


The Potter Brothers_Charles Potter's First Year

by RosettaRoseburn



Series: The Potter Brothers [1]
Category: Dexter (TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Being an Idiot, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Gen, Harry Potter Has a Sibling, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Minor Character Death, Misguided Albus Dumbledore, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:55:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22407595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosettaRoseburn/pseuds/RosettaRoseburn
Summary: This is what I think would've happened if Lily and James had three sons instead of one. I gave Harry one older brother named Charles and a younger brother named Evan. This story will also be a minor crossover with a few other fandoms. I say minor because it will mostly have the children of the MC in some other fandoms mention their parents.
Relationships: Brian Moser/Ava Wisteria(OFC)(implied), Dexter Morgan/Lumen Pierce(implied), James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Series: The Potter Brothers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605406
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	1. Potters Fate

**Author's Note:**

> For example, this will be a Dexter crossover because Dexter's son Harrison will attend Hogwarts in the same year as Harry (I know Dexter is set in America but I change the fandom slightly to fit this, also in my story S1 ended differently and anything after S5 never happened). This will be a Sherlock crossover because John's daughter Rosie is in Charles' year (also Fred and George's year)(also Johnlock is mentioned). I may also reference other fandoms but those are the two that matter as the Potter brothers will be interacting with their children and maybe sometimes them.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The introduction. The boys are born. James and Lily die. The brothers are abused at the Dursley's.

Straight out of Hogwarts Lily Evans married James Potter and to the jealousy of her older sister Petunia got pregnant right away. (Though Petunia would later say Lily must have gotten knocked up in school and was trying to hide it. How shameful, in her fine opinion.) The Potters were overjoyed as James' parents were getting quite on in years and wanted to be sure their family had an heir. With such a fine, young, and fertile bride, the elder Potters could be quite content their family would survive the next few generations. James and Lily named the boy, Charles Fleamont Cadmar Potter, he had James' hair and eyes but would grow to have many of Lily's facial features.

Just as Fleamont and Euphemia Potter were on their death beds, Lily fell pregnant again, another boy, Henry James Hyacinth Potter. These were dark times to be living in but James' parents died with the hope that their two grandsons would live to see a better future. (Petunia also sent a scathing letter to Lily that contained news of Dudley Dursley's birth but mentioned several times she had waited a few years into her marriage to have a child "like a proper born woman.") Shortly after Harry was born the Potters moved several times every few weeks as Dumbledore had informed them of a prophecy which Voldemort thought was referring to Harry.

While on the run Lily took the entire Potter family library with her sorted into several trunks, sorted by subject, then date, then author names alphabetically. One trunk however contained only books written/edited by members of the Potter family, it was these books that had Lily hunched over a table looking desperately for an answer. According to many spell crafters research, the Killing Curse was so effective because it simply killed you, there were no injures that could possibly be healed, no poisons to find an antidote to, you simply die. Many of the same researchers theorized that this was because the curse didn't _just_ kill you, it tore your soul from your body.

For many years the Potter family specialized in soul and blood magic, until the Ministry banned such arts a few centuries ago. Aegeus Potter, one of James' great-grandfather, had entirely disagreed with the laws and argued heavily against them. When the laws finally went through due to the votes of one of the Potter House rivals, Basil Livington, Aegeus hid the real books on Soul and Blood magic and gave the Ministry some fake books and journals he messed with so they couldn't read it anyways. "Potter family magik, you understand Livington? Even if I have to give it away I can't let anyone else read it." And so the Potters had taken up Transfiguration as their new family magiks instead.

Lily smirked, she really did love the family she had married into. The books on soul magic disappointingly did not contain much extra knowledge on the Killing Curse, they did however contain several draughts which could heal a person who had suffered the other Unforgivables to their previous state. According to the Potters, the other two curses were soul magic as well, the Cruciatus targeting your souls ability to function in this world and the Imperius targeting your souls will to live freely and crushing your spirit. Disappointed, Lily jotted those potions down and closed the books on soul magic.

It felt as if all her work was for nothing, she had been searching and searching for a way to have her children survive and there was nothing. Lily had tried convincing James to leave the country and stay gone until Charles was ready for Hogwarts or the war ended but James was adamant about staying to fight...not that they did much fighting these days. James was so confident, he thought they would win and it would all be okay. Lily wished she had such faith, such hope.

The Lady of Potter House was also unsure about how much longer she could keep this next secret from her husband...she had fallen pregnant again. In these dark times, with two children already and on the run Lily wondered if she should get rid of it. Could she force a child to grow up in this life? Never staying in one place, always moving, always afraid, never making any friends. Lily wasn't even sure they would get to go to Hogwarts, what if Voldemort captured it first? Would her children ever know joy? Would the other two (oh goodness she was already thinking of the baby inside her as _hers_ ) resent Harry for being the reason their family was targeted?

No! That was enough! The second Lily Marie Evans Potter let some madman dictate her actions was the second she became someone else. Lily _wanted_ this baby, it was _hers_ , it was a little piece of James and Lily growing inside her and _Lily wanted to be his or her mother._ Voldemort would not force her to give up on her dream of becoming a mother, he could not force her out of _her_ world, Lily Potter would fight to the death if it ever came to it but she would not give up on a way to protect and save her children. (And, well, if Charles or the little one inside her ever decided to be angry with Harry because he happened to be apart of some prophecy then Lily would just have to be a mother and explain the them that it was not Harry's fault and that it was always the fault of the murderer, not the one they intended to murder.) With a renewed sense of passion, Lily began to go through the blood magic books, leave no stone unturned, there must be something that could help.

-~-~

James was ecstatic when he found out Lily was pregnant again. They threw a big party with the rest of the order. Sirius was made godfather again with Lily choosing Alice Longbottom as godmother (Charles' godmother was Pandora Lovegood and Harry's was Marlene McKinnon.) Lily was worried her choices of godparents would either die in the war so she chose three separate ones just in case. Surely not all of these people would die if she did? Right? James laughed it off and said Sirius would be alright. Sometimes she thought her husband didn't get the point. The party was also partly a naming ceremony because the Potters doubted there'd be another opportunity. It was decided that a boy would be named Evan Godfrey Elijah Potter and a girl would be named Amethyst Evelyn Astor Potter.

There was some good news, Lily had found a way to protect her children. Within the Potter books about blood magic there was a ritual often called the Ritual of Love. There was a protector and a protectee, the protector had to make several potions involving some blood from the protector, willingly given. The protectee (or protectees, in one case an older brother used this on all four of his younger sisters) must drink the potion while the protector drew a soul-symbol over their heart to symbolize the love the protector must feel for the protectee. The protector would then place the protectee in a symbol meant to represent their relationship. This would ensure that if the protector shielded one protectee from any kind of magical attack the attacker would then have their attack rebound on them and would no longer be able to touch any of the protectees, even if the protector was only shielding one. There seemed to be a few downsides to this plan, Lily would die meaning she could no longer protect them from anything else (what if Voldemort sent one of his lackeys to kill her children but the others and himself were free to do so?), Lily had no idea what symbol would represent herself and her children (easily fixed, find something to do with motherhood or sons), and there was no recorded incident of it being used to shield the killing curse ( _what if it didn't work?!_ ).

Because this ritual could only be used once Lily would have to wait until the new baby was born. She also picked out several different symbols in case the child was a girl and the one to do with mothers and sons was no longer applicable. "Don't worry baby," Lily whispered rubbing her swollen stomach. "Mommy won't let anyone hurt you or your big brothers." Then she sighed and added "Hopefully I won't have to die for you to be safe."

-~-~

Charles wasn't sure what had happened. It had been Halloween and Daddy was shooting sparks up in the air and Mommy was laughing. Harry and Evan were being their usual baby selves. Mommy said Charles had to be patient with them because they were small and couldn't do as much as he could. Charles could do lots, he could runs and speak with big words and ride a toy broom alone and climb Daddy's deer antlers. Harry and Evan couldn't do that though, they were small but that was okay 'cause Charles was a big boy and he would teach his little brothers to be big boys too! (But not bigger than him because he was the big brother.)

Anyways, what was he talking about? Oh, yeah, yeah. There was a weird man at the door and Mommy suddenly started actin' scared like something was gonna hurt her. But that was silly because she was Mommy and Mommy's weren't supposed to be scared. Mommy told him to run real fast up to Harry and Evan's room and Charles did. (Mommy had to carry Harry and Evan because they were big boys yet like Charles and couldn't run up the stairs like he could.) Charles thought it was weird though, Mommy told him he wasn't 'posed to run up and down the stairs. Maybe it was different because they only ran up once? 

Bangs and shouts chased them up the stairs and Charles reminded himself not to be scared, it sounded like thunder and Mommy said thunder didn't hurt. Mommy was still scared and she placed Harry and Evan inside the big crib where Harry slept. Mommy picked him up to put him inside the crib too, that was when he complained, "I'm too big Momma, I get the big boy bed."

That was the first time his mother ever gave him a sharp look, "Charles Potter, I need you inside this crib and I can't argue with you right now." Charles shut his mouth and let his mother put him inside the crib. Mommy had never spoken to him that way, her voice was always gentle and soft. The bangs had fallen silent and Mommy looked sad. Mommy leaned down so she was level with their tiny faces, even Evan had been sat up against Charles' tummy. "Listen very carefully, my boys, Mommy loves you, Daddy loves you. We will always love you even if we aren't around anymore." Mommy looked so afraid and Charles reached his tiny hands (big boy hands!) through the bars to touch her face. It came back wet, Mommy was crying. 

There was a lot of shouting, Mommy cried, she begged to man in the odd cloak to leave them alone. Charles would remember her screams for the rest of his life. "Please not my babies! Take anyone else! Please not Harry! Take me! Kill me instead!"

And the high, cold voice which answered. "Stand aside! Move Mudblood! Stand aside you silly girl! Avada Kedavra!" And the man turned his wand on Harry. Charles made sure to wrap his arms around Harry and Evan incase they were scared but when the man pointed his wand at Harry and the green light flashed it got sent back to the man and the room exploded outwards.

-~-~

Charles didn't like this new place. These people were apparently called the Dursley's and they were his Aunt, Uncle, and cousins Dudley and Daisy. Dudley was Harry's age and Daisy was younger than Evan, she was still in Aunt Petunia's tummy when they got here. Charles, Harry and Evan all shared the littlest bedroom in the Dursley's household while Dudley and Daisy each got their own room. Whenever Charles or Harry or Evan disobeyed the Dursley's or annoyed the Dursley's or took food without asking first (the answer was always no) they were put in the cupboard until the Dursley's thought they were properly punished.

The Potter boys had chores as soon as they could walk. They cleaned the house, cooked the food as soon as Charles could reach the stove, and weeded the garden. Charles told stories to his brothers in the middle of the night, he told them all he remembered about Mommy and Daddy and what he called their _real_ Aunts and Uncles. (He learned to only say this when all the Dursley's had gone to bed because Aunt Petunia had screamed and slapped him and Uncle Vernon had put red stripes across his back until he was bleeding with his belt.) When they didn't do the chores properly (which as often as small children could not get that much done in a day) they weren't fed. Once, Harry abandoned his chores to talk to one of the neighborhood boys, Uncle Vernon pulled off his belt and beat him until he screamed, he beat Charles too because the second he heard his little brother cry he jumped in front of Vernon and tried unsuccessfully to drive him off.

Charles tried to protect Harry and Evan but he wasn't sure he was good at it. Interrupting their punishments only got him beaten as well and if he was in the cupboard with one he couldn't protect the other. Then school happened and he was forced away from his little brothers for eight whole hours!

Something strange happened in his second year of school though. Charles had taken to staying in the library so he could read their books. Mommy was always reading books and Charles vaguely remembered her saying the books had helped Mommy save him and Harry and Evan. It probably didn't work though, Mommy was gone and if she couldn't protect herself then how could she protect them? The library didn't have any books on how to save his little brothers though. While mostly a loner as he didn't know how to talk to other children, Charles eventually realized he had to ask the librarian what he wanted to find like he'd seen some of the other kids doing.

"Mrs.Bradley? I need help finding a book but I'm not sure what it's called."

Mrs.Bradley smiled down at the polite little boy. He had been coming into the school library for over a year now, never checked anything out, just sat quietly in a chair and read for the whole of recess and lunch. He seemed a bit too thin and she had been bringing in extra sandwiches for him a few other kids, it was so sad how some families couldn't afford enough food. "What are you looking for, dear?"

"I need something to help me save my brothers." Charles said with a very serious tone.

Feeling slightly amused the old librarian smiled down at him. "Save them from what?"

She was not going to like the answer.

-~-~

On July 24th to Charles' Potter amazement he found his Hogwarts letter amidst the boring Dursley's mail. Charles had gotten rather good at looking miserable when he was happy (the Dursley's didn't like it when he was happy) so he plastered a miserable look on his face and brought his relatives his mail. The second he was aloud back in his room he tore open the Hogwarts letter and read it with gusto.

This was it! He was finally going to Hogwarts! And Harry and Evan would see--

And just like that the happiness he's been carrying beyond his miserable expression popped.

Oh. Oh no. Charles was the only one to get a letter. What if Harry and Evan couldn't come? He--he couldn't leave them here! They were brothers! They were supposed to stick together! What would Uncle Vernon do to Evan with only Harry to protect him? And Harry couldn't defend himself either! (Common sense would say that Charles couldn't either really but who listened the that?)

Still, Charles might as well write his reply to see if he could go though he didn't know where he would find an owl.

_Dear Professor McGonagall,_

_I have a few concerns about Hogwarts I would like to ask if you have the time. First, where do I get all this supplies? I live with my muggle relatives and they aren't too fond of magic. I doubt they'd take me to a magic shop or that they even know where one is. Second, where would my brothers go while I'm at school? They can't stay here. As I said before my relatives aren't fond of magic, it would be more apt to say they hate it. I worry that if I leave my Aunt and Uncle would treat them even worse. Please reply if you have anywhere for them to stay while I'm at Hogwarts. If you do not, I would not bother. I won't leave this house if I don't know my brothers will be safe._

_Sincerely, Charles_ _Fleamont_ _Cadmar_ _Potter_

The owl problem was fixed almost as soon as he went outside. An owl swooped down and grabbed his letter and took off with it. Hopefully it was the right owl.

** Author's Note **

**Okay so that was Chapter 1. I usually like to try and finish a story before I post it but I've decided with this one to roll with it and post immediately. I hope I didn't make any glaring mistakes but I wrote this as soon as I got the idea and it took about 4 hrs.**

**Some notes for if you didn't read the summary. This story has small** **multicrossover** **parts in it. It's nothing big, just some kids from various other TV shows going to Hogwarts at the same time as the Potters.** **You don't have to watch any of the shows the kids are from to read this story.**

**Rosie Watson, John's daughter from Sherlock is in the same year as Charles, she doesn't have a big part and I don't even think I'll put her dad in at all. (Just know I ship** **Johnlock** **so she will mention having two dads and some adopted siblings I made up who aren't at all important to the story.)**

**Another kid, Harrison Morgan from Dexter will be in Harry's year. I know, I know, Dexter is in Miami, Florida, how did his son get an invite to a boarding school in Britain? Basically Dex took a family vacation at one point and Harrison did some accidental magic in Britain. Hogwarts picked up on it and sent him a letter. So he got one Hogwarts letter and one** **Ilvermorny** **letter and chose Hogwarts. Dex thought it was a good idea to send his son away so he would be safer away from Dexter and his enemies. (Also in my personal** **headcannon** **Brian survives past** **S1** **but I probably won't mention it. Also I liked Lumen so I always** **headcannon** **Dex and her together so when Harrison says "Mom" he's talking about her and I have him a little brother who, again, isn't important to the story. You don't need to know who Dexter and Lumen are to enjoy the story and can consider Harrison an OC if you want.)**

**Those are the only other fandom kids that are important to the story but if you recognize any familiar last names from other shows who aren't in the original Harry Potter schoolmates list just ask. For example, Beatrice "Trixie" Decker from Lucifer will be in the year above Harry's but will only be mentioned attending things like DA meeting and stuff. No importance to the storyline. And yes I know Lucifer is set in LA, just refer to Harrison's answer for any questions about that.**

**Tell me if you have any request for a kid cameo and I'll try to grant it. For easy reading try to write it like this:**

**Kids name**

**Parents name(s)**

**Fandom/Fandoms**

**What country they are from**

**Any special attributes they might have**

**You may also include things like:**

**What year you want them to be in (in accordance to Harry's year)**

**Anything special you want them to say/do?**

**I'm certain if I need to find out anything else I can just use their name and the shows name to find more. I will say one thing though, no one who's not in this world. That means no Lord of the Rings, no Avatar:The Last Airbender, no Game of Thrones. It has to be set in the real world. And yes, regretfully, I will include Twilight in that as it technically fits. Want me to include your Sam and Emily, Jared and Kim, Jacob and** **Renessmee** **, any wolf and their imprints kid,** **I** **can work with that. (** **I** **wonder how many times I'll have to use the vacation and chose the foreign school option?)**

**Also, no overpowered kids. I'm going to try to make everything work in the realm of possibly so no kids that can alter reality or something.**

**And these kids have to exist as KIDS in their respective fandom, with their parents as the main character. For example I won't use Wanda and Pietro** **Maximoff** **because although they are Magneto's children they are also adult character with their own storylines. (I refuse to accept that Magneto isn't their father. Suck it Marvel.)**

****This was first posted to Wattpad but I thought I'd move it over hear. It's still on wattpad though if you'd rather read it there**


	2. Gringotts and Diagon Alley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and his brothers go to get Charles' School Supplies, bit of a filler chapter. At least read the part in the Wand Shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> I usually write these after the chapter but I thought I'd write a small one before. There will be no scene of McGonagall at the Dursley's or McGonagall talking to Dumbledore. I tried to write one and it flopped completely. I hated it. I hated writing it. I hated reading it. Instead I decided to start off after all that. 
> 
> In between these two chapters McGonagall read the letter, investigated the claims Charles made in the letter, yelled at Dumbledore and promised she would find a place for Harry and Evan to stay while Charles is at Hogwarts. Because of the blood wards Dumbledore was able to convince Minerva the Potter's needed to stay at the Dursley's during the summer for at least three weeks. The magic making everyone forget the abuse was because the Potter's would have been taken away and the wards wouldn't allow it. Hope this answered any initial questions. 
> 
> Remember in this chapter Charles is 11, Harry is almost 9 and Evan 8 (using the HP timeline for a moment Charles would've been born in April of 1978, Harry in July of '80 and Evan in May of '81).

Harry stared wide-eyed at all Diagon Alley had to offer. He would admit that sometimes he thought Charles was lying when he told them about the world of magic. How could there be a whole world full of freaks just like them? Charles always corrected him, they weren't freaks, Aunt Petunia was wrong. Still, it wasn't like Charles didn't lie about other things, he always told Harry and Evan he wasn't hungry when he was. He had to be hungry if they were! Why did he lie about it?

Charles lead them confidently down the street up the the magnificent bank at the end. Charles had convinced the old man with the beard and the other lady who had yelled at the bearded man to let them shop alone. Harry knew it was because Evan was scared of adults and he was glad they were together.

Charles walked up to one of the goblin tellers and spoke in a clear, precise tone of voice as the lady who rescued them had advised him. "Greeting Goblin Teller, my name is Charles Fleamont Cadmar Potter and I have been advised to speak to my account manager and collect money from my family trust vault." Charles then held up his key for the goblin to inspect.

The key must have been satisfactory because the goblin nodded and told another goblin to lead them to Account Manager Redsword. The twisting halls were impossible to follow and Harry's legs were aching by the time they got to their account managers door. Finally they arrived at a single door in a long hallway where goblin left them with instructions to wait for their manager. The brothers didn't have to wait long, soon another goblin opened a different door behind his desk and stepped into the room.

"I was told you wished to speak to me Heirs Potter?"

"Yes. We've been gone from the magical world even since our parents died and wish to reclaim our family's accounts. I will also need to visit our trust vault after this meeting to get money for school supplies." Harry was surprised at how Charles' voice never wavered when speaking to the goblin. They all had trouble speaking to adults because of how many disappointed or outright abused them when they dared voice an opinion.

"Very well. What would you like to know about you accounts?"

"A few things. Will the current amount in our trust vault get all three of us through school? How many vaults are there? Do our vaults have more than just money, specifically books? And how much total in wizarding money? Can we transfer some into muggle money? And do we have any houses, Professor McGonagall said we might."

"Your trust vault is refilled every year from the Potter Line Vault and from what I know it should get all three of you through school and more. Besides your trust you three have many vaults; first is the Potter Line Vault which anyone with a direct blood connection to the main Potter family can access, second is the Smaller Potter Vault which many large bloodlines have to keep gold within their immediate family--spouse and children, third is the Potter Heirlooms Vault which hold magical items and books made by the Potter family, fourth is the Evan's Vault which contains all your mother's gold and items. 

"You also happen to be in line for all three Black Vaults as you are the Godchildren of Sirius Black, this will change if he ever has any blood children. One of your godmothers, Marlene McKinnon, also had no heirs and left you her personal vault, the McKinnons never had enough gold for a larger line vault. 

"As you heard, yes, your vaults have more than just gold in them. Your trust vault only had gold as it is specifically for children ages eleven to eighteen to get them through school. The Potter Line Vault has most of the families gold and the most valuable artifacts and books your family possesses. The Smaller Potter Vault has a smaller portion of gold and artifacts that have been recently used by the Potter family, your grandparents and parents were the last ones to use that vault. Another vault used by distant cousins in your family was collapsed into the Potter Line Vault upon their death at their request. The Potter Heirlooms Vault has all magical items, books, research and anything personally made by the Potter Family. This distinction was sorted out by an ancestor of your who wanted the vaults more organized and has not been changed since. So yes, there are books but you will not be able to take most of them out until you have at least taken your OWLS as many were considered dangerous by your ancestors and the rule was made.

"As for how much you currently own in galleons, I would have to perform a blood-to-vault test to find out. After the war many wizards who had lost their heirs and were not able to sire another before they died left certain amounts of their gold to Second Heir Henry James Hyacinth Potter for defeating the man whose followers killed their family. All their gold was automatically placed into the Potter Line Vault because no one left you their entire vault. Yes, you may transfer some gold into muggle money, either at the tellers or using a bag that will cost a large fee which will convert your money into any currency directly from your Trust Vault. You have several properties and I would have do a small blood test which will reveal all properties connected to your vaults to see all of them."

While Charles seemed composed Harry could see his older brother trying to reboot from the information overload. It seemed he had not expected them to own so much and Harry hadn't either. It seemed mind boggling to think their family had been so wealthy and that some people had left them (or just Harry it seemed) money and possibly houses just because of something their parents probably did. That story the nice, angry lady had told them seemed laughable. A one-year old baby had defeated a wizard everyone seemed afraid to say the name of (except bearded man)? 

"And how would you perform these test?" Charles asked after he had regained his composure.

"For the blood-to-vault test I would simply prick all of your fingers and let the blood drip onto a special piece of parchment that is already prepared. The other test requires me to spell the paper to reveal properties connected to the vaults. I can also do this with books, artifacts, and family heirlooms but most don't ask because the list includes everything from the title of every book to even an enchanted child's toy."

"Do you need blood from all of us? Couldn't it just be me?"

"Well, this is where the Second Heir comes in, everything left to the Potter Family as a whole would show up on both your list but anything left to Henry Potter for the defeat of Lord Voldemort would not show up." Redsword explained.

"I will do it then. Let's just get this over with," Harry sighed. It felt like they had been in here for hours and they still had to visit their trust vault and get their school supplies. At least they had woken up early that morning for chores that never happened because the lady showed up to take them away.

Charles had a sour look on his face as if he wanted to protest but he nodded and allowed the goblin to do the ritual. Really, it wasn't like Harry hadn't been beaten to near-death before, he could handle a little needle and a few drops of blood. Though they had all guessed the amount to be larger due to the many vaults all three brothers were still surprised at how much time it took for the parchment to stop growing and words and numbers to stop forming.

**_Henry (Harry) James Hyacinth Potter Vaults and Properties_ **

_Potter Line Vault_ _|contains 1 million galleons, 500 thousand sickles (300 thousand galleons of which belongs to Henry Potter alone)_

_\- Connected Property (Potter Manor in Oxford, Potter Vacation House in Belgium, Germany, Potter Vacation Flat in Tokyo, Japan)_

_\- Gifted Properties to Henry Potter (Flat in London, House in Manchester, Family Manor in Bristol, House in York, Cottage in Cardiff, Vacation Home in New York, NY USA, Vacation Apartment in Canberra, Australia)_

_Smaller Potter Vault_ _|contains 500 thousand galleons, 20 thousand sickles and 100 thousand_ _knuts_

_\- Connected Properties (Potter Home in London, Potter Cottage in_ _Godric's_ _Hollow, Marauders Den in Cambridge [Occupied]{Must Prank One Person to Earn Entrance})_

_Potter Heirlooms Vault_ _|contains no monetary items_

_\- Connected Properties (***_ _Peverell_ _Residence {Must Prove Worthiness} in ???,??? {An Opportunity Will Present Itself to the Worthy})_

_Potter Trust Vault_ _|contains 100 thousand galleons, 500 thousand sickles and 10 thousand_ _knuts_ _(to be topped off each year from the Potter Line Vault, excluding what belongs to Henry Potter alone)_

_Evan's Vault_ _|contains 25 thousand galleons, 5 thousand sickles and 3 thousand_ _knuts_

_\- Parents Home in_ _Cokeworth_

_\- Hideaway Shack in ???, France {Needs_ _Portkey_ _Found In Vault}_

_Black Line Vault_ _|contains 2 million galleons, 5 million sickles and 3 million_ _knuts_

_\- Connected Properties (Old Black Manor in Paris, France [Abandon due to severe Ghost Infestation])_

_Smaller Black Vault_ _|contains 1 thousand galleons, 500 sickles and 50_ _knuts_

_\- Connected Properties (Black Family Townhouse in London, Black Family Vacation Home Miami, Florida USA)_

_Black Heirlooms Vault_ _|contains no monetary items_

_Marlene McKinnon Vault_ _|500 galleons, 10 thousand sickles, 15_ _0_ _knuts_ _(With the condition that it must be divided equally among all three brothers)_

"Woah. Why would someone gift me seven houses?" Was all Harry could say in response.

"And 300 thousand galleons," Evan added, just as shocked as his older brother.

"How much is that in pounds anyways?" Charles asked.

"It varies from time to time, the current exchange rate is £15 to a galleon," Redsword answered. "Will there be anything else?"

"Can we have that bag that takes money from our trust vault? It sounds like we can afford it."

-~-~

Charles was mostly silent as he and his brothers made their way down to their families smaller vault. The goblin had told them that they were not able to bring certain items and books out but they were free to look around. Charles wanted to see if there was anything their parents had left them in there. It seemed like anything they needed would be left either in their mothers vault of the smaller vault their father and grandparents would have used.

It almost didn't seem real. A few days ago Charles was telling his brothers about magic and how there was a whole world full of people like them and now they were _here_. Charles let his little brother run around the Smaller Potter Vault while he looked for specific items which could have been left by their parents. He didn't find anything that seemed to mean something but he did find a trunk full books, many of which were mentioned on the course list. The books seemed to belong to both his mother and father and they went very deep into the trunk, so deep Charles suspected magic was being used to expand the area.

"Hey Charles, you find anything?" Evan asked.

"Not much."Charles answered. "I'm gonna take this trunk with me. It has books in it that belonged to Mum and Dad."

"Okay. Hey Charles, Harry found our parents wand, can we take them with us? And how do you know the books belonged to Mum AND Dad? They're just books." Evan sassed.

"Because sometimes there are two of the same one and they have names written in them stupid." Charles teased back.

"I'm not stupid, you're stupid...and a dum-dum."

"If I'm a dum-dum you're a brick."

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

-~-~

With the trunk full of books Charles only had to get two of the course books, the potions and the defense against the dark arts textbooks. After getting books Charles decided to get his own trunk, the one he had was already filled completely and wouldn't even accept Charles putting in two more books. 

"Hey C, can we get out trunks too? Then we can already have them ready for school." Harry suggested.

"I guess, it seems like we have enough money for it. I don't know how we'd spend over a million pounds on school supplies every year."

"Maybe things are different in the wizarding world." Evan proposed softly, now that they were back around the crowds of adults he was back to trying not to be noticed.

"Or maybe our parents were just super rich and it doesn't matter how much we spend." Harry laughed, never in the world had they had so much money.

"Of course it matters," Charles scoffed. "We want to have enough money for our family for generations to come, don't we?"

The trunk store had lots of different types of trunks for a stored that just sold places to store your clothes and books during school. The reason why soon became clear, the trunks didn't only come a few different sizes like one would would expect but with different enchantments and compartments as well. Overwhelmed by all the different sizes Charles had to ask the shop owner for help.

"What do Hogwarts students usually get? There seems to be so many different choices."

"Well it depends on what you want your Hogwarts years to be like my young customers. There is the regular trunk which has a simple expansion charm to fit your basic needs but many choose to include compartments for extra clothes, books, potions items, and other things from home to help with homesickness."

The three brothers exchanged a look that said quite clearly they would not be experiencing such a feeling and quickly moved on. Listening to the shopkeeper describe all the different types of enchantments that could be placed to protect the trunk and make it lighter for easier carry and expand it made them wonder if everything would be this hard to find a match for them. Finally Charles decided to get a trunk with seven compartment and got Harry and Evan both four compartment trunks. 

(Charles trunk is as follows:

1st small compartment for basic items

2nd large compartment for clothes (he planned to buy his and his brothers a whole new wardrobe because they now had the money for proper clothes)

3rd large compartment for books 

4th potions ingredients compartment (enchanted to keep fresh)

5th potions lab (was connected to the potions ingredients compartment though a small window

6th bedroom and bathroom

7th kitchen (will have to buy food)

1 featherlight enchantment and about seven different enchantments keyed to each individual brothers along with a password for the potions lab, bedroom/bathroom and kitchen)

Harry and Evan's trunks had the first four compartments Charles' had with the same protective and lightening enchantments, the only difference was that their trunks also had shrinking charms on them. Charles reasoned they only needed one potions lab, they had shared a room all their lives and why would they need more than one kitchen? The only difference was that their trunks also had shrinking charms on them, the shopkeeper explained that Charles' trunk had so much space inside his that it was not magically possible to shrink it

Because they had spent so much at the trunk store the shopkeeper gave them all free enchanted bags that would hold all their schoolbooks for the day and not weigh a ton in the process. Feeling slightly unnerved by how much money he had spent, Charles thanked the kind shopkeeper and ushered his younger brothers out the door. It was so strange having that much money, he wasn't sure they could get used to it.

"Where to next Charles?" Harry asked, he too looked weirded out by how much money they had spent.

"It's getting darkish," Evan noticed.

And indeed it was. It had been a long day, waking up to do chores, getting brought here by Professor McGonagall who proceeded to tell them a long story about how Harry was someone known as The-Boy-Who-Lived, given them a thing called the Muggle-Born Handbook and given Charles their bank key along with some tips on how to talk to goblins. Then they saw their account manager, had a long conversation with him and waited for ink to dry (okay it wasn't quite like that), explored one of their vaults, and bought two books and a three trunks. What a day.

"I think we can get one more thing," Charles said as he squinted at the almost-dark sky. "Then we can go to the Leaky Cauldron and stay for the night like Professor McGonagall suggested."

They decided to go for robes because Charles said they were tailored and so they might have to wait for them to be done. What better time to wait than overnight while you're sleeping? Compared to trunk shopping, robes were easy. Charles simply told the lady he needed Hogwarts robes and all three of them needed whatever robes were in style for their age group. The ladies measuring the asked a few questions about color and design but for the most part it was easy. There was even an option to put their family crest on some of their robes which all brothers gladly took, Charles simply showed them their money bag which had the crest on it and that was that.

-~-~

Evan woke up the next morning excited. Yesterday had been the best day of his short life, he was sure of it. Not only did someone care that he and his brothers were being treated the way they were but they had actually done something about it! And he went shopping! And got to see magic everywhere! And went shopping! And saw a goblin! And went shopping! And--did he mention he went shopping?

His stomach growled and just when Evan was about to tell it to shut up he remembered he was allowed to have food. The youngest Potter brother hurriedly put his only other pair of clothes on and raced downstairs. Tom the bartender had somehow anticipated his needs because he was handed a plate of food upon arrival. Not caring how this happened Evan wolfed down his food before until his stomach ached. It seemed both his brothers had the same idea as they also came down to their own plates of food. 

Charles gave Tom a questioning look. "There are monitoring charms on the doors, they tell me when a guest who has ordered food is about to come down."

"But we didn't order food." Harry said

"No but the professor did, she said you might forget to eat."

Suddenly filled with warmth Evan tried to eat more of his breakfast despite feeling sick from all the food. There must be a way for them to repay Professor...Evan had forgotten her name, for her kindness. No one had ever cared enough to make sure they got fed.

Charles insisted again on leading their trip and because he was the oldest and the one actually going to Hogwarts the younger brothers accepted it. Their shopping continued without the fuss of yesterday, they even remembered to stop a noon to get lunch. The real excitement came when they went to get Charles' wand.

"Ah, hello Mr.Potters, you both look so much like your parents."

"You knew our parents, sir?" Harry asked.

"Well I only knew them as customers. They both bought wands from me, it seems only yesterday they were in here, buying their first wands. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow--good for charm work. You father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches, pliable, a little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well I say favored--it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

Feeling a bit creeped out, Evan asked Charles if he could just get his wand. (Quietly, of course, you never knew how adults would react if you spoke too loudly.) It seemed they weren't done with Mr. Ollivander quite yet as it took several boxes for Charles to find his wand. One made a loud farting sound when he touched it, another blew up and Charles set many different things on fire. 

"Try this one--dragon heartstring, cedar wood, 13 and a half inch, powerful, mark of a wizard not to be crossed, certainly not when one you love may be in danger."

The second Charles touched the cedar wand, warm, gold and bronze sparks shot out of it and Charles had this awed look on his face. Magic seemed to fill the shop and both younger brothers felt safe for the first time in their lives.

Mr. Ollivander smiled softly, "And that, is a perfect match."

-~-~

The brothers decided to get ice cream after their time in the wand shop and Evan noticed how their usually bossy older brother was suspiciously silent. "I've never felt anything like that before," Charles finally said as they were licking their bowls. "It...it was like it belonged to me--and I knew it belonged me and it was gonna help me look after you both."

"I felt it too, it was like I was safe the second you touched it...." Evan said in awe.

"Well that's what Mr. Ollivander said isn't it? That whoever owns that wand 'not to be crossed' hen someone they love is harmed." 

The next stop was the pet shop as McGonagall has suggested they buy an owl so they could keep in touch. The pet shop had more that just owls and Evan split off from his brothers to see if he could find a cute pet Charles would let him buy. He didn't have much luck, all the animals there were okay looking, some were downright adorable but none stood out as EVAN'S pet. 

Harry and Charles apparently had more luck than Evan because both were holding cages. One contained a beautiful snowy owl and the other contained a snake. Evan nearly groaned, of course it would be easy for Harry to find a pet--he could talk to snakes! 

-~-~

Harry had been assigned the task of naming their two new pets. Charles said this was because he was terrible at naming things and Evan was still upset he couldn't find his own pet. Having no naming ideas whatsoever Harry had taken to reading Charles' history textbooks for suggestions. History text always had such unique names that were common then but strange today. The owl was eventually dubbed Hedwig and the snake rejected so many names Harry gave up and asked him what he wanted to be called.

§Finally you ask young Speaker! I wish to be known as Solongo for I have the brightest of scales and everyone shall know it and fear me!§ 

§You want everyone to fear you?§

§Indeed! Bright means danger!§

§What kind of snake are you anyways? The shopkeeper didn't know.§

§I know not what the humans call me but I hail from Brazil and lived by a river until wizard brought me here. I thought I would be used for potions ingredients until you found me Speaker. Now I shall strangle anyone who threatens thee!§

§Well I'm glad I did found you but please don't strangle anyone...or bite anyone.§

§My bites do not hurt...I bit the humans who tried to take me away and they did not react very much.§

Harry sighed and began to settle down to sleep, now both Solongo and Hedwig had names so he wondered what his next project would be. Perhaps he would read the rest of Charles' books and practice magic. He and Evan had their parents wands after all, it probably wasn't that hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> Wow was this a long chapter. Next chapter will be Harry and Evan getting their school time homes and Charles settling in at Hogwarts. Guess who he's gonna become friends with? Yep, the Weasley twins and Rosie Watson.
> 
> Also the snake photo at the top is Solongo, he's a brazilian rainbow boa.
> 
> JK Rowling is terrible at coming up with a suitable currency so I will never mention anything's price.
> 
> If you skips the Gringotts part I don't blame you, it was a bit boring but I had to get it out of the way.
> 
> Look up wand woods and you'll find out why I picked cedar for Charles. It basically describes his whole personality. He's very protective of the people he loves and does his best to protect them and rain hell upon those who hurt them. I was original going to have him kill the Dursley's in a fit of rage because they would hurt his little brothers but I couldn't justify killing two children who are only this way because of their parents. (If you wondered how Daisy Dursley acts well, just like Dudley but less screaming "because it isn't ladylike dear" and thinner like Petunia.)
> 
> I'm planning on only having one chapter of Charles' school years because they aren't that exciting but I wanna know what you guys think. I want to define his character separate from his brothers (I realized I write "the brothers" "his brothers" "little brothers" a lot) but I'm not sure people will like that. 
> 
> The part about Charles lying about not eating? If you couldn't guess, he lies so his younger brothers can have his food even though he's just as starving as they are.
> 
> Charles will not be going to school in his old clothes, he got himself and his brothers a whole new wardrobe like he said he would.


	3. New Family?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Potter Brothers meet the Tonks Family and start to adjust to not being abused all the time.

The Potter brothers were sorting through their new items, it seemed insane to have this many things. Not only had Charles purchased a huge amount of books (both muggle and magic) he'd also gotten all different types of clothes and food to stock the seven-compartment-trunk's kitchen with.

"I'm going to let you guys have the big trunk okay? And I'll take one of the smaller ones to school."

"Why C?" Harry asked, he wasn't going to protest.

"Yeah, that means the school will feed me at least twice a day, maybe three times. You guys need to the one with the kitchen and if your new guardians are anything like the Dursley's then you can run away and live in the trunk's bedroom."

"You think they will be?" Evan's bottom lip wobbled as he asked the question.

"I don't think so, that McGonagall woman seemed trustworthy, but that's no reason to be unprepared. While I'm at school I want you guys to study the potions you think are most useful, ones that can heal you and stuff. Even if they're to advance we should at least know which ones they are. I sorted out Mum and Dad's old schoolbooks while you guys were asleep last night; I'm taking Mum's because she left all sorts of helpful notes to help me study and you guys can have Dad's because he left stories about things he and his friends did while they were in school."

Charles paused for a second to make sure they understood and took a deep breath. "I bought some extra books that should help you guys finish normal school, I want you to at least try. Hopefully your new guardians don't care if you go but if they do...I don't want you to lose the option to go back and forth between worlds if they don't."

"I don't want to go to school with Dudley--he'll make my life hell, 'specially now that he can't do it at home."

"Maybe you can convince your new guardians to enroll you in a different school," Charles shrugged.

"It's not like you can't pass Dudley now Harry! Remember how you had to hold back because Aunt Petunia didn't like it when you did better? Well now you can just skip a year or two and you won't have to deal with him! I could probably skip too, Aunt Petunia wouldn't let us before even though Mr.Skipply said I was smart enough. Now we can show everyone who we really are!"

Harry looked reassured by Evan's words and slowly relaxed into the monotonous work of sorting their books, clothes and other new items they had bought on a whim because they now had the money. Wizarding toys and games were strangely similar to muggle toys with the exception of electronics. There didn't seem to be any equivalent to videogames or cell phones or the internet in the wizarding world. **(** **Author's Note** **: Remember that this is also set to interact with the Sherlock, Dexter, and Lucifer TV shows. There is no set timeline as I mentioned in the summary.)**

The boy's conversation was light and joyful as one of them would sometimes open one of their parents book and read experts from it. Their father seemed to have lots of mentions of pranks he intended to play which got meaner the more advanced the books were, there also seemed to be tons of mentions of a 'Mooney', 'Padfoot' and 'Wormtail' while their father was also often called 'Prongs'. While trying to find an explanation for these names Harry came across a book titled 'Animagus: For the Witch or Wizard that Wishes to Transform'. It had many comments from their father and his friends (who's real names they finally found out were 'Remus', 'Sirius' and 'Peter') about how much better the transformation would be if you did blank or the silly shenanigans they got up to while practice their forms (there seemed to be a certain part of the process where you had to loose all human inhibitions and be an animal for three whole days which turned out to be really funny to read.) The weirdest thing though was that there was no mention of what form Mooney/Remus acquired, in fact the book often implied that the rest of the 'Marauders' were doing this _for_ Mooney for some reason.

"Do you think we could write them? See if we could live with one of our father's friends? Maybe they could tell us better stories...." Evan bit his lip as he trailed off, he looked like he had just realized he's offered _willing_ contact with an adult.

"Let's ask McGonagall first. She seemed like she wanted to help us and I bet she'd know what happened to these people. There _was_ a war going on at the time...they might be dead." As Charles spoke he hung his head in sadness, he couldn't imagine any of these dear friends his father had let mark-up his schoolbooks would leave and not have a reason. In the books James had called the Marauders _brothers_! Harry and Evan both agreed, Charles was always the final say when they were talking about something so serious.

-~-~

They did their chance to ask McGonagall if they could write their father's friends, the next day in fact, McGonagall wrote and asked to meet them for lunch. She had found a family the younger Potter's could stay with during the school year.

"Good afternoon Professor McGonagall, have you been well?" Charles asked pleasantly. He'd learned adults liked you well enough if you were polite and well-mannered.

Professor McGonagall was no different, she smiled at him in that way adults did when they were pleased with you. "I've been as well as one could expect, preparing for new students. Yourselves, Mr.Potter's?" She had learned Charles was the spokesperson for the group.

"We've been excellent! I did as you advised with my vault manager and it worked out well. I found my mother and father's old schoolbooks, which were certainly helpful and I've gotten all my school supplies." Charles knew adults liked it when you acted like their advise had helped you in some way, it made them feel good, and smart he supposed.

"Good, good. Now I've found a few family's I believe you could do well in and they certainly have no negative history with your parents or any past abusive behaviors. I arranged for one to meet us for lunch here if you would like?"

"That would be great! Could you tell us a bit about them while we wait?"

"Most certainly. Their names are Ted and Andromeda Tonks, they have a daughter currently attending Hogwarts in her sixth year in Hufflepuff House, Andromeda was a Slytherin while Ted was a Hufflepuff, I believe Ted has a muggle job that has something to do with the weather...?"

"A weatherman? They report on the weather and stuff?"

"Yes, that was it. Thank you Evan," McGonagall smiled, she likely recognize he was nervous around adults. "And Andromeda...she does many things. I believe she has many investments in wizarding stock and also tutors young wizards in etiquette. I advise you to at least ask for some small tutoring so you don't mortally offended anyone by accident but not every wizard follows these rules so I would not blame you if you didn't. The Potters were never an extremist House."

"Alright Professor, I'll consider it." Charles was very serious, he never used relaxed language around adults, they couldn't be trusted.

"And just so you don't get startled, their daughter is a metamorphmagus, a witch or wizard who can transfigure their own body at will and she likes to change her hair colour quite often."

"Thank you Professor." Things like hair colour changes did not startle them but all three boys were touched to find she's thought to warn them if it did. It was a small thing but to three boys who had no one to rely on but themselves it meant a lot.

"Oh I meant to ask. My father mentioned friends in his notes, would it bother you much to speak of them? Their names were Sirius, Remus and Peter but they also went by funny names they came up with." Charles pointedly chose not to mention their animagus transformations, the book had said it was illegal and he didn't know if his father's friends were still alive to receive punishment that seemed unnecessary for the small act of giving yourself an animal form.

The Professor sighed and her face seemed to age as she prepared herself to speak. "No I--I understand why you would be curious I--Peter Pettigrew is dead, he was killed by your father's other friend, Sirius Black--Remus Lupin is currently out of the country but he has an affliction that the wizarding population feels would make him unsafe to be around young children, especially those that are not his own."

"I'm sorry Professor, I didn't mean to make you upset. I have just one question left if you don't mind?" When she motioned to him Charles continued. "Do you know if this Remus Lupin would like us to write him?"

"I think he would like that," the Professor nodded.

-~-~

Dinner with the Tonks' went smoothly, the boy's learned the daughter was named Nymphadora but did not like to be called that and Mrs.Tonks was willing to tutor them in the necessary etiquette lessons. Dora, as the brothers had taken to calling her, entertained everyone by turning her nose, ears, and mouth into different animal parts when the tension got to high. Mrs.Tonks had at one point demanded to know why Professor McGonagall would be sending the boys back during the summer if they were this badly treated (Charles had seen no reason to hide and told her about the scar marks on his and Harry's backs). The Professor said something about blood wards and 'bloody Albus" which hadn't erased the mother's ire.

"What does Albus bloody Dumbledore have to do with the lives of three boys who are being seriously hurt? If these wards are so bloody special why aren't they protecting the children? In fact, if Albus placed them there, why doesn't he check up on them? How could he not have known if they were being starved and beaten?!" As Andromeda's voice slowly raised in volume Evan began to whimper and Harry looked close to hiding under the table, Charles gave a half-noticeable flinch and his face went blank.

"Andy, Andy dear," Ted tugged on his wife's arm. "You're scaring the children, and aren't you always the one telling me a restaurant isn't the place to talk about these things?"

Looking chastised Andromeda apologized to the Potter's while sending McGonagall a sharp look that said everything: They would be discussing this later.

-~-~

Life with the Tonks' as different from their norm, which was a good thing. There was a small incident in the begining because no one had given them any rules and they didn't know what to do. How were they to act? Was there anything they weren't allowed to do? What would happen to them if they broke something they didn't know was a rule?

Andromeda could have slapped herself when she realized what the issue was and why the children she's been perfectly kind and gentle towards kept sending her such fearful looks. The families rules were then explained, most of it amounted to not putting yourself in dangerous situations and asking if they were unsure about something being dangerous. They were also not allowed to leave the house without asking and being accompanied by an adult (or Nymphadora if they were just going somewhere simple like Diagon Alley). They were to keep their rooms clean and if they ate anytime that wasn't an appointed meal-time, wash their own dishes. Compared to the mountain of chores required of them at the Dursley's it was simple.

Charles had asked if he could practice some of the spells which he was told was alright as long as one of the adult Tonks' were in the same room and could fix it if something went wrong. There was also a law against underage magic which he was told almost no one followed because you couldn't tell when the magic being perform around a young witch or wizard was really that witch or wizards magic.

"But what about people like our Mum? Or Ted? They don't have wizard parents to upset the Trace?" Harry asked. He'd grown a lot more studious and now asked so many questions Andromeda didn't always have answers for him.

"That's one of the things that's unfair about this world, Harry. Very few wizard parents care if their children practice magic and some do this to get ahead of their muggle-born classmates. Some parents don't let their children practice magic over summer because of this but most children hear from their friends and do it anyways. That's why I tell Nymphadora that if she's going to practice any new magic we might as well be there to help her so she doesn't hurt herself. Hopefully one day there won't be loopholes like this for wizards to take advantage of but for now that's how it is."

Andromeda gave the boy's etiquette lessons, focusing more on Charles because he would be leaving soon. She had also found out Harry was a parselmouth but the other two brothers weren't. "Curious. That ability runs in bloodlines, if one of your parents had it all of you would have it." Then her eyes widened when she began to wonder _what_ made the boys different.

"Mrs. Tonks?" Charles requested politely. He had a sixth sense for telling when adults knew something about his brothers. No matter what she did Andromeda could not get him to drop the formal use of her name, he was likely trying to distance himself from someone who wouldn't even be around that often. _Well I'll stay around,_ Andromeda vowed. _I'd like to see that old bumblebee try to stop me. These are_ ** _my_** _boys now._

"I think I've just realized why your brother is a parselmouth and I'm not sure any of you will like it. Could it wait until before he goes to Hogwarts? Just so he's old enough to handle it?" The former member of House Black had learned quickly not to prevent the boys from making decisions for themselves. They couldn't be treated like normal children, their childhood had been taken from them, most especially Charles.

Charles looked at her very seriously before asking, "It's not dangerous is it? It won't hurt him?" He clarified, as if she needed help figuring out what he meant by dangerous.

"No, I just believe the information will shock him is all. Best to have it when he's settled into the idea of wizarding culture."

Charles nodded and sent her a questioning look to see if he was dismissed to which she nodded. (Andromeda had no way of knowing this was a small amount of trust given to her by the boy, to not ask verbal, clear permission from her before doing something.)

Harry's ninth birthday happened days after they moved in together. It was a quiet, small affair but it seemed to make all the boys happy. "We've never had birthday parties before--at least I don't remember any! This is great! Thank you Andy!" Harry exclaimed.

They didn't notice all three Tonks' tear up at a simple cake and a few small gifts. "I just don't get it Mum," Dora whispered, almost in tears. "What could drive anyone to treat a little kid this way? They didn't do anything to those people except get left on their doorstep--which was Dumbledore's fault! I don't understand...."

"Some people are just bad Nymphie. There's no excuses for treating any child this way, ever." And Andromeda knew her daughter was truly upset, she didn't even scowl at her hated nickname.

Time in their now three people larger family went on and the Tonks' learned certain trigger words that weren't to be said around the Potter boys. Words like **_boy_** and **_freak_** were complete no-no's and Ted never suggested that instead of Dad the boys could call him Uncle Ted after the first incident.

"W-why would you s-suggest that? We don't need _another_ Uncle!" And then poor Evan ran upstairs, Ted later learned he cried.

Taking Charles and Harry to get actual prescription glasses had been fun, apparently the Serious Potter had missed that on his diligent shopping spree. (Andy had found the trunk with the bedroom and kitchen but said nothing. As long as she didn't treat them like their Aunt and Uncle she didn't think they were a flight risk.)

They also learned to not try and separate the three brothers. Unless they had something specifically different to do that absolutely required them to be in different rooms they stayed together. Andromeda figured it wasn't worth worrying about as they would be separated soon enough when Charles went to Hogwarts and then again when Harry had to go without Evan. These boys had been through a traumatic eight years together, it was going to take some time to be normal siblings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:
> 
> I don't have much to say for this chapter. Just some feel goods all around. 
> 
> Charles might trust Andromeda, just a bit, slightly, a tiny smidge.
> 
> Nymphadora is definitely going to be the best big sister of all time to those little boys. She definitely won't have blind faith in Dumbledore when that shit rolls around.
> 
> Who wants Charles to absolutely be besties with the Weasley Twins and Lee Jordon? Because it's gonna happen anyways...
> 
> I also want Charles to be apart of the Quiditch Team but I like all the original players....I think I might do something where each house has three Quiditch Teams? Like one co-ed, one all-girl and one all-boy? Is that something you would like? Pretty sure it's selfish to do that just to get my boy Charles on the team without messing with the original team but oh well. If I decide it happens it will happen, maybe I'll have Charles start it himself. (Edit: I later decided not to do that; reposting to Ao3).


	4. Charles' First Day At Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charles meets Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson and Rosie Watson on the train to Hogwarts, watches a very long Hogwarts Sorting and goes to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be including the whole sorting. I used more kids that JK did because 40×7 does not =1000 students. JK says 1000 students go to Hogwarts. So there's about 90 kids in Charles' Year, usually there would be more but there was a war going on at the time. *shrugs*

The eldest Potter brother tapped his wand nervously against his thigh. This was the first time he had been away from his brother's in years. Sure, they were in different years in school but that was only for eight hours a day and they always saw each other at lunch. Now he wouldn't see them until Halloween (Andromeda had _arranged_ with Dumbledore for them to meet up on certain dates, the anniversary of their parent's death being one of them). Andromeda had sent Dumbledore several Howlers when she found out they had never seen their parents graves and didn't even know the day they died until McGonagall told them.

"Come on Lee--let's see if this compartment's full yet," a voice said from behind the sliding door. Three people poked their heads in, one dark-skinned boy with curly hair and standing next to him were two identical red-haired boys with brown eyes and matching grins. "Hello? I'm Fred and this here's George, mind if we sit with you?"

"I'm Lee," the non-identical boy said, apparently he didn't know Charles had heard them--or he was just trying to be polite.

"I suppose I don't mind, just me in here," Charles answered calmly. If he was going to be away all year he might as well make some friends.

"Right, thanks mate--"

"--really just smashing of you to invite us into your compartment--"

"--we're definitely grateful--"

"--please--"

"--have a candy."

And the red-haired boys offered him some candy they'd just pulled out of their pockets. Charles stared, he wondered if it'd be rude to refuse. Andromeda's etiquette lessons hadn't included what to do if someone offers you candy and in the muggle world children were often warned away from taking sweets from strangers.

"Um--no thank you. I just ate you see, before getting on the train--and I'm not sure about here but in the muggle world kids are told not to take candy from people they don't know." Charles hoped the explanation would clear up any upset the boys might feel after he rejected their gift and also serve to tell him what type of people they were, he didn't want to hang around people who were prejudice against muggles.

Lee seemed to sense his discomfort, "Hey, take it easy. The candy's probably pranked, the twins do that a lot. So you're muggle-born then?"

"No, half-blood. My Mum was muggle-born and I was raised by her sister."

"Oh, well what happened to your Mum and Dad then?" One of the twins asked. "Ow--Lee!"

"Don't you know how insensitive that is?!" The dark-skinned boy scolded.

"No--it's okay!" Charles spoke fast, he wasn't sure how to explain. "My parents are dead they--" Then he got an idea. "I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? Nice to meet you, my good lads. My name is Charles Potter."

"No, you're joking!" The twin who hadn't spoken before exclaimed.

"Are you really--?" The other one said.

"I think I'd know who I was," Charles grinned. The amazement of the twins amused him, McGonagall told him this might happen but it was still funny. He wondered what kind of reception Harry might get in two years.

The four boys laughed and joked until there was another knock at the compartment door. Two girls opened it and peaked inside, "Is there room in here? We've just been kicked out of our compartment--figured out too late some jerks care Rosie has muggle blood!" A girl with brown eyes and long black braided hair declared fiercely. The other girl, Rosie, was blonde with brown eyes that darted quickly around the compartment, assessing them.

Lee and the twins didn't look as if they were going to say anything so Charles invited the girls in. The other three boys had taken up the seat across from Charles so the girls sat by him. "So who is it that doesn't like muggles? Just so I know who to avoid," Charles joked nervously, he didn't like the strange silence that had taken over the compartment.

"Nora Beaumont and Viola De Clare, we were fine until Rosie started to talk. They don't like muggles but I guess they know what the muggle word for healer is--and Rosie mentioned that her father is a doctor. And I'm Angelina Johnson by the way, and this is Rosie Watson."

"Well that's too bad, my mother was muggle-born and there's nothing wrong with that. You wouldn't think people'd be that small minded." Charles huffed. The wizarding world's blood purity stuff seemed just like racism in his opinion. Complete nonsense.

"Dad says muggles are just like wizards, just without magic. He thinks they're great actually, collects tones of elekriciy stuff."

"Electricity." Both Charles and Rosie said at the same time. They looked at each other and blushed.

"Right that--but it doesn't work because of all the magic around the house."

"Taking it apart doesn't help either, Fred, because he can't use magic to repair them and have them still work."

"So what sorts of jobs do wizards have? You said being a healer is like being a doctor, what about other things?" Rosie asked.

Now the tension in the room was broken and Lee shared that his father worked in the Department of Magical Games and Sports while the Weasley's father was the Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. Angelina's mother was a chaser of the Hollyhead Harpies, an all-girls Quiditch team which lead to a long an exciting discussion about the magical sport.

The compartment opened again to admit a trolly where Charles bought six of every sweet to try so he could share with his friends. Rosie too had fun with the new magical sweets and was delightfully shocked when her chocolate frog jumped out of her hands and into Lee's mouth when he opened it to speak. They played a game where the person on your right chose a Bertie Bott's Everyflavoured Bean for you to eat and you had to guess which flavour it was.

The twins older brother Charlie stopped by to see how they were doing and Charles was glad to see how well he hid his surprise at seeing they were in a compartment with 'Harry Potter's Older Brother'. Harry shouldn't have to face a bunch of people that gasped and gawked at him like he was some race exotic animal. Another Weasley brother stopped by to remind them to change into their robes and the girls left for the bathrooms for privacy.

Off the train a humongous man was waiting near a lake with some boats, that was how they were to get to the castle. "That's Hagrid," one of the twins whispered. "He got expelled a long time ago and Dumbledore kept him on as the groundskeeper."

"Our brother Charlie says he knows a lot about creatures and the forbidden forest."

"What'd he get expelled for?" Angelina asked.

"No one knows."

"Apparently it's the only thing he can keep his mouth shut about."

"Never tell Hagrid any secrets."

Charles was glad he wasn't the only one to gasp in awe at the beauty of the castle. The twins and Lee, who he shared a boat with, also wore astounded faces and Lee nearly fell out of the boat because he wasn't paying attention to Hagrid yelling "Duck!"

 _"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said_ _Hagrid_ as he directed them to giant doors that seemed to be able to fit ten men stacked on top of eachother.

 _"Thank you,_ _Hagrid_ _. I will take them from here."_

 _She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the_ _Dursleys_ _' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at_ _Gringotts_ _, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors._

 _They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor._ _**Charles** _ _could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right -the rest of the school must already be here -- but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously._

_"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room._

_"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff,_ _Ravenclaw_ _, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any_ _rulebreaking_ _will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours._

_"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."_

_"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." She left the chamber._

_"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked_ _ **the twins**_ who seemed to know a lot from their older brothers.

"Bill said he isn't allowed to tell--"

"--and Charlie was talking about some sort of surprise."

"Maybe we have to fight a troll--"

"--maybe they throw things at you to see which house you fit in--"

"Maybe we have to take a personality test," Rosie interjected.

"A what?" One of the twins asked. (Charles seriously needed to find some way to tell which one was which.)

"You know? Like the Myers Briggs test or something?" The twins stared at Rosie blankly until she sighed. "So you don't have that in the wizarding world? It can't be that then."

"They might not have heard of it, I doubt many eleven year olds know about it." Charles suggested, for once he knew what he was talking about. Him and Rosie explained the test to the rest of their small group and noticed some others listening in. It felt good to be the one _explaining_ rather than being the one _explained to_ Charles was used to explaining things to his brothers.

Shortly after Charles and Rosie finished the doors opened up once more and the formidable looking Professor McGonagall took them on to their new destination. She looked different, now that she was in her element and doing something she probably did every year. While meeting with Charles and his brothers she had been more frazzled, the old professor definitely hadn't expected to find three abused children while recruiting new students.

 **Oh my god** did that hat just start singing?! The song was apparently about what traits each house valued and how they were all useful to the wizarding world in some way. Charles still wasn't sure which house he wanted. None of the sounded _bad_ but according to his Mum's notes a lot of Death Eaters' families were in Slytherin House so Charles probably shouldn't be in that house in case some other student tried to get revenge if his parents had killed theirs in the war or something. All other houses seemed solid though, loyalty, bravery, and wit were all fine traits and none of his parents notes had warned him of anything from those houses.

Charles payed punctilious attention to the sorting, knowing what traits someone had or valued most could be a good factor in their personality and what friendship with them would be like. Still, you could only get so far with single parts of varied personalities.

"Anworth, Ralph."

"Ravenclaw!"

"Ashbridge, Jessalyn."

"Hufflepuff!"

"Atkins, Ophelia."

"Ravenclaw!"

And then the girl who bullied Rosie Watson out of her compartment because her father was a muggle. "Beaumont, Nora."

"Slytherin!"

Unlike with the other three students, who clapped loudly when someone was sorted into their house, the Slytherin's clapped in a polite, but reserved manner and Gryffindor House 'boo-'ed. Charles hoped it was because she was a bully and nor because she was Slytherin but based on his parents notes at how Gryffindor House treated Slytherins....

The first Gryffindor was "Berry, Alisha." and she got a loud cheer... perhaps because a Slytherin had been sorted directly before her? Or had her parents done something noteworthy?

Then three Hufflepuffs, "Bond, Billy," a name him and Rosie shared a private laugh over, and identical twin girls, "Brynn and Rowan Boyd."

The next girl, "Campbell, Pricilla" was sorted into Slytherin, and got more loud 'boo-'s from Gryffindor House. Yep, it was certainly a rivalry thing and not just because the first Slytherin girl was a blood purist.

"Chavez, Kiran." -Ravenclaw

"Cherry, Nicholas." -Gryffindor. The amount of cheering was consistent so it just appeared that Gryffindor House was more boisterous than the other three.

"Chudwell, Harold." -Slytherin. Were they going to do that _everytime_ a Slytherin student was sorted? There were over a hundred kids here to sort- -they'd never be finished!

"Clark, Alexander." -Hufflepuff

"Contreras, Serenity." -Gryffindor

"Covington, Eleadora." -Slytherin

"De Clare, Viola." The other blood purist Charles knew kicked Rosie out of her apartment, was also sorted into Slytherin.

"Delafontaine, William." -Slytherin

"Dennison, Ceanna." -Slytherin

"Dewitt, Cecil." -Slytherin

"Diggory, Cedric." -Hufflepuff

"Discord, Niam." -Ravenclaw

"Donovan, Jasmin." -Gryffindor. Charles notice Rosie squirmed when that name was called and resolved to ask her about it later.

"Downries, Quinten." -Slytherin

"Edwards, Dylan." -Gryffindor

"Evafield, Ivy." -Hufflepuff

"Everbleed, Keanu." -Ravenclaw

What was kind of funny were the three names that followed being so similar.

"Farbridge, Tobias." -Hufflepuff

"Farraday, Bridgette." -Ravenclaw

"Farrington, Jonah." -Hufflepuff

"Figueroa, Mal." -Hufflepuff

"Fitzcharles, Gideon." -Slytherin

"Forrest, Natalia." -Slytherin

"Geulimja, Cassia." -Ravenclaw

"Goyle, Lauren." -Slytherin

"Griffin, Robert." -Gryffindor

"Griggs, Gabriella." -Ravenclaw

"Gramm, Faolan." -Gryffindor

"Grant, Blake." -Gryffindor

"Greaves, Genivire." -Hufflepuff and "Greaves, Georgiana." Another pair of twins to Hufflepuff? Or were they cousins? Unlike the Boyd girls they weren't identical so he couldn't tell.

"Hawkins, Gavin." -Gryffindor

"Hurst, Sergio." -Hufflepuff

Finally McGonagall called "Angelina Johnson" up to the Sorting Hat and immediately the hat yelled "Gryffindor!" And after that "Lee Jordan" was sorted into Gryffindor right behind her. Hopefully Charles got sorted into Gryffindor then, two of his friends were already there and Charles was certain the twins would be Gryffindor's as well.

"Justice, Alexis." -Gryffindor

"Kelly, Maria." -Gryffindor

"LeRouge, Serafina." -Ravenclaw

"Druzilla and Elvira Lestrange" got loud 'boo-'s from all three houses when they were both sorted into Slytherin. Curious, Charles filled those two names into the back of his head.

"Lovelace, Runa." -Ravenclaw

"Lovell, Ingrid." -Hufflepuff

"Lynx, Sakura." -Ravenclaw

"Mavis, Frances." -Hufflepuff

"McCarthy, Ryan." -Gryffindor

"Mercer, Alden." -Ravenclaw

"Merriweather, Nicolette." -Ravenclaw

"Montague, Graham." -Slytherin

"Noble, Maddox." -Gryffindor

"Ocella, Lucifer." -Slytherin. Lucifer? Did someone seriously name their kid Lucifer? Charles didn't believe in any particular religion but naming your son Lucifer? And of course he was sorted into Slytherin. ***The last name is pronounced O-K-ella.**

"Patel, Ali." -Hufflepuff

"Pierpont, Alma." -Slytherin

"Potter, Charles." And now it was Charles' turn. He wondered what would happen when the hat touched his head. It sometimes took a few seconds and other times a few minutes. How did the hat determine what kind of personality you had?

 _Well aren't you the inquisitive sort?_ Said the hat.

Charles nearly jumped, thankfully, what he liked to call his Dursley-training prevented him from showing his immediate emotional reaction. _You can talk!_

 _Well yes, you did hear me sing. Usually when someone can sing they can also talk._ The hat snarked.

Charles thought about how he hadn't heard the hat talk to the other students but...he also hadn't spoken himself seconds ago. _So you can read our minds? That's how you determine where we belong? Isn't that invasive? Can you tell others what you see in our heads? What about people who lie to themselves? How can you tell what someone's like in such a short amount of time? If someone would be hurt at home if they don't get sorted into a certain house do you sort them anyways? What if a person plans to commit a crime, do you tell a teacher? What if--_

 _Calm down! I may be in your head but I can only answer one question at a time. Yes, I do read your mind and it is how I determine what house you belong to. I'm not sure how invasive it is, I'm a magical artifact, I don't have many personal opinions and this was what I was created for. No, I cannot tell others anything personal about the people I sort, the most I can say is what other houses students qualified for and even then I can only tell the Headmaster and the Head of House. People who lie to themselves often admit subconsciously what they feel and believe. I see everything at an extraordinarily fast rate. I take a person's feelings into account during their sorting. Most eleven year olds do not plan to commit crimes so the founders did not plan for that scenario, I'll tell you there are some things I wish I could say about certain students. Please, no more questions, I need to sort you before there is a_ _hatstall_ _, I haven't had one in decades and I want to reach a new record._

Charles did stay mostly silent (as silent as your thoughts could be) as he processed this new information. A hat could have _goals?_ And kept records? _So what house do I fit into?_

The hat actually sighed inside his head before he answered. _Well, you are extremely brave when it comes to protecting those you love and extraordinarily loyal to them as well. You have a ready mind, no doubt about that, and are also cunning in the way you plan things out. In reality, you could fit into any house, though you seem to have an aversion to being sorted into Slytherin due to the danger you could face there. You don't take unnecessary risk which could set you against Gryffindor, the only people you would take those sort of risk for are your brothers , so perhaps Hufflepuff? But you want to be seen so intelligent, adult-like. You hate being controlled. You aim to ruin anyone who wants to control you, Hufflepuff is more friendly than that._ _Ravenclaw_ _would fit you well, you have always been an avid reader and student, with very realistic and cynical views of the world. But where would you fit well?_

Charles paused. As long as the hat didn't place him into Slytherin he was sure he could do well in any house without much difficulty _but....Mr.Hat? Wouldn't it be best to sort students somewhere they could grow, rather that somewhere that would mold them to be as they already are?_

The hat chuckled. _Oh you are clever! Hoping I would sort you into Gryffindor with your two friends?_ Charles mentally blushed. Of course he couldn't manipulate something that was reading his mind. _Are you sure? Gryffindor is full of rowdy kids, you're the quiet sort who likes to blend into the background. Hufflepuff would make you comfortable,_ _Ravenclaw_ _would encourage your talents...but you're sure? Alright then!_ "Gryffindor!"

And his new house cheered for him as the inside of his robes turned to red and his tie turned to red and gold. Angelina and Lee had saved a seat for him and Noble Maddox clapped him on the back and said "Good, good man." As if he had done something other than put a hat on his head.

"Quean, Evie." -Hufflepuff

"Reynold, Ava." -Joined them at the Gryffindor table within three seconds. Charles wondered at that, were these people's personalities just not that deep or was it something else that caused the hat to sort quickly?

"Richfield, Royce." -Slytherin

"Robshaw, Sebastian." -Ravenclaw

"Rowley, Imogen." -Ravenclaw

"Rutherfield, Kate." -Slytherin

"Savoy, Lillian." -Ravenclaw

"Scott, Zelda." -Gryffindor

"Shawcross, Ethalind." -Slytherin

"St.Clair, Preston." -Ravenclaw

"Steele, Agnes." -Gryffindor

"Steward, Liam." -Hufflepuff

"Stone, Noah." -Gryffindor

"Strain, Mansfield." -Hufflepuff

"Stuart-Lane, Andres." -Ravenclaw

"Topper, Emily." -Gryffindor

"Tudor, Felicity." -Hufflepuff

"Wakefield, Geoffrey." -Slytherin

And finally -- "Watson, Rosamund." So her first names wasn't just Rosie? Interesting. The hat sat on her head for so long people started murmuring, "Hatstall?" "Just a minute longer and it'll be a hatstall." "Did you know Professor McGonagall was a hatstall?" "Well so was Professor Flitwick." But then the hat yelled "Gryffindor!" And to Charles' relief his friend was sorted into his house. He had saved a seat for her, om his right and across from Angelina, who had saved two seats for the twins, Lee was on his left.

"Isn't that just brilliant? We're all together now! I'm sure the twins will be in Gryffindor, all three of their brothers were--and their parents." Rosie said in a rush as she settled into her seat.

And she was right "Warrington, Cassius" joined the Slytherin table right before "Weasley, Fred" and "Weasley, George" joined the Gryffindor table. Feeling a lot more settled now that his friends were sorted into the same house as him, Charles watched the last four people get sorted.

"White, Chilton." -Ravenclaw

"Wood, Harriet." - Was welcomed into Gryffindor by an older student with similar features who Charles assumed must be her older brother or perhaps a close cousin.

"Wraith, Misty." -Ravenclaw

"York, Lawrence." -Ravenclaw

"Ah, a new batch of students to teacher, beautiful as always. Now I hope you'll all wait a while longer while I give a short speech. Ignoramus. Squish. Weirdo. Channeling. There it is--now onto the feast!"

Charles was even more certain Dumbledore was senile, first he leaves three magical children with relatives that dislike magical and never check up on them and now...whatever that was? Whatever. That was a long sorting. Nearly a hundred kids. And they did this every year after a long train ride _before_ the students were allowed to eat?  
Wow.

He barely payed attention to the leaving speech which basically said the Forbidden Forest was forbidden (no duh) and a few more items were banned (Charles had no idea what they were so it was safe to say they didn't concern him). And now they were supposed to get up and sing the school song?! It also happened to be the lamest school song ever but what did Charles know, he was only eleven.

-~-~

Charles was put in a dorm with the Fred and George Weasley, Lee Jordan and Faolan Gramm. There was a notice on the door that said any strong objections to roommates should be settled tonight, you could only be rehoused at the start, middle and end of a school year, otherwise you were stuck with your roommates.

"You gonna fawn over my little brother? Because I find that quite annoying." Charles hoped this one question would root out any undesirable people that he wouldn't be able to deal with until the Winter Hols. If they were going to fawn over Harry they were annoying. If they _weren't_ going to fawn over Harry but objected to him then they would probably voice it. Eleven year olds didn't have much tact.

"No. Harry Potter may be a savior but he's also a person."

Satisfied, Charles choose the bed closest to the door, you never new when you would have to flee a room or situation. Tomorrow was a Saturday, that would give him time to familiarize himself with the castle. That shouldn't be hard, his father had a lot of notes written by him and his friends about where things were in the castle and had apparently written a map that they lost. There were four copies, one for each of the Marauders. One was in the Potter Heirlooms Vault which sucked because Charles wouldn't be able to bring anything out of that vault until he completed his OWLS. One was in Caretaker Filtch's Office as Sirius Black had lost his on purpose because he didn't want to put it in the Black Heirlooms Vault. Two more were hidden around the school; Peter Pettigrew's had been hidden in strange room that disappeared and reappeared if you passed it three times, and Remus Lupin's was in someplace called the Shrieking Shack where the Marauders had practiced their Animagus forms.

He was so tired he fell asleep almost immediately while thinking of what he would write in his letter to Harry and Evan tomorrow. The oldest Potter brother didn't even have time to reflect on how today was the first day he hadn't spent worried about his brothers in some way or another.

**Author's Note**

**And there you have it, Charles first day at Hogwarts! I was thinking I would write a few chapters about his days at Hogwarts with his friends before I got started on the main plot. I will warn you that I won't follow the plot completely but the main things will probably happen in each 'book'. I might even write a separate fanfic for each book but I'm a bit wary of doing that because I don't want to separate my story so people can't read it if they happen to be bad a navigating fanfiction websites. I eventually plan to post this to** **Ao3** **but I've been having a little trouble as they immediately erase my formatting when I copy-paste. Which is all I can do on my phone so don't suggest I use other methods of getting the story there. I might use fanfiction.net but I don't really like that website so I'm not sure.**

**I'm trying to make the Potters less dependant on each other because it's really not healthy no matter how** **bromantic** **the Winchesters make it look.**

**I've been toying with having Sirius escape from Azkaban sooner or maybe Rosie and Charles seeing old newspapers and deducing that something was obviously wrong there. (Rosie is Sherlock Holmes' daughter, of course she can see that finger has been cleanly cut--not blasted off.)**

**I didn't know many names that were from Fred and George's year so I made most of them up. The only real character were the twins themselves, Angelina Johnson, Lee Jordan, and two Slytherin boys Graham Montague and Cassius Warrington who were old enough to be in Fred and George's year when I looked up Slytherin House. Oh yeah, and Cedric** **Diggory** **, for the longest time I thought he was a year above them but when I looked up his school year.... I also thought Charlie Weasley and** **Nymphadora** **Tonks would've been in seventh year when the Weasley Twins started Hogwarts but according to Wikipedia that is not the case. What a** **doofus** **I am. Oh well.**

**I noticed after all the names were written down that I used three names that started with 'Far' and also far to many names that 'field' in them and J was far too lazy to change it. If you haven't noticed, yes there will be around a hundred kids each year because 40×7 does not equal the 1000 Hogwarts Students JK says exist. She admits she's bad at math and I forgive her for that.**

**(I can't forgive her for being a** **terf** **but I choose not to let that affect my enjoyment of the Harry Potter series.) Also I realize I haven't done a disclaimer this whole time. Here it is, I don't own Harry Potter. Shocker, I know.**

**I also wanted to mention that, yes, Charles and the gang (along with Harry and Evan's friends) will eventually become** **Animagus** **but it will be later. I will be using** **JKR's** **version of becoming an** **Animagus** **with some edits of mine to make the process more interesting.**

**Hope you didn't mind that I included the whole sorting but I wanted you all to know all the characters the gang would be dealing with even if it's only briefly.**

**Yes, I've decided Rosie will be a part of the main group because I felt sad that Angeline was the only girl. The other Gryffindor Chasers who we know she's friends with are a year above and a year below her and she won't bond with them until she gets on the Gryffindor** **Quiditch** **team. According to my research on the Gryffindor** **Quiditch** **team, that happens in her second year and even then Katie Bell is still a first year at that time and not on the team.**

**I've already decided on Charles and Harry's** **animagus** **forms and you can't convince me to choose anything else but I will take request for the other characters.**

**Character that will become (or possibly if I haven't decided yet they will have a ? by their name) an** **Animagus** **are as follows:**

_**Charles Potter** _

_**Fred and George Weasley** _

_**Lee Jordan** _

_**Angelina Johnson** _

_**Rosie Watson** _

_**Alicia** _ _**Spinnet** _ _**?** _

_**Katie Bell ?** _

_**Harry Potter** _

_**Ron Weasley** _

_**Hermione Granger** _

_**Neville** _ _**Longbottom** _ _**?** _

_**Theseus** _ _**Scamander** _ _**? (** _ _**OMC** _ _**grandson of Newt** _ _**Scamander** _ _**)** _

_**Harrison Morgan (already decided it will be a type of venomous snake but maybe you guys want to decide which one)** _

_**Jamie Foxx ? (OFC, daughter of two** _ _**muggleborns** _ _**killed in the war)** _

_**Asriel** _ _**Lestrange** _ _**? (** _ _**OMC** _ _**son of Bellatrix who doesn't agree with his parents views)** _

_**Evan Potter** _ _**(I decided it would be an animal that is poisonous if you eat it but not sure which one) this is nothing to say of his personality but a comment on what his older brothers and the other people who love him dearly, will do to you if you hurt him** _

_**Ginny Weasley** _

_**Luna** _ _**Lovegood** _

_**Newt Scamander -the 2nd- (another grandson of Newt** _ _**Scamander** _ _**)** _

_**Ezra Holmes (** _ _**OMC** _ _**Sherlock's son, Rosie's little brother, they used a surrogate when he and John wanted another child)** _

_**Colin** _ _**Creevey** _ _**? Not sure if I should include him with all the others but I thought Evan would set him straight and make him less annoying.** _

_**As for what Charles and Harry's** _ _**animagus** _ _**forms will be...well, I'll just say they will both be a predatory animal but the type will say something about their personalities.** _

**I had to include this here because it was too long for the endnotes. I originally wrote this on wattpad so it didn't transfer over well.**


	5. Letters Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This entire chapter will be letters. One from Charles to his brothers. One from Rosie to John and Sherlock. And a reply letter from Harry and Evan (written by Harry) to Charles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't write Sherlock and John's reply letter on purpose. There was a reason for that.
> 
> I didn't want to.

_My Dearest Brothers,_   
_Harry and Evan_

_Subject, First Day At Hogwarts_

_Hello brothers! I hope you are both well and don't miss me too much. I arrived at Hogwarts yesterday and made lots of new friends. Five is considered lots, right? Better than zero at any rate._

_There was nothing to worry about regarding the sorting. I wasn't sorted into Slytherin so I'm not in any danger from the children of Death Eaters our parents may have offended during the war. I was in fact sorted into Gryffindor House--just like our parents!_

_I've made friends with a pair of pranksters called Fred and George Weasley who were easy to convince to help me find one of the Marauders Maps. They're identical twins and love to confuse people by claimed to be one another and calling themselves_ _Gred_ _and Forge. Another friend, Lee Jordan, also seemed interested in pranking. Maybe we'll form a group like Dads! I don't know about some of the pranks he pulled, they seemed kind of mean. Maybe we can pull pranks on people like Nora Beaumont and Viola De Clare--they're people who don't like_ _muggleborns_ _so it might be alright._ _Both of them were sorted into Slytherin._

_I also made friends with two girls! One is named Rosie Watson and she's_ _muggleborn_ _like our Mum. Another girl is names Angelina Johnson and the five of us sat together on the train._ _Faolan_ _Grimm seemed okay, I share a dorm with the twins, him and Lee._

_There's this game called_ _Quiditch_ _which everyone here seems mad about. I can't try out as a first year but maybe next year I can? There are three house teams, one co-ed, one all guys, and one all girls. I think next year I might try out for the all guys team. I don't feel comfortable knocking people around, it might be easier if it's just guys. I'll be a Chaser like Dad!_

_The_ _Weasley's_ _older brother Charlie told me about a really harsh teacher, Professor Snape. He doesn't like_ _Gryffindors_ _, what should I do? I know Dad and Sirius hated him but will he judge me for it? Mum seemed to like him until he called her that awful name. I don't care if he likes me but I don't want to get bad marks for it!_

_I can't wait until I can see you two on Halloween! It'll be nice to see our parents grave. It was really nice of Andromeda to get Dumbledore to let us leave the castle on our parents death anniversary, our birthdays and stuff. Do you guys think we're too co-dependant like she said? We've always been this way. I take care of you and you take care of me....Well, when I let you. But I'm supposed to be the big brother! I'm supposed to take care of you guys--not the other way around._

_Because we got here on a Friday I got the weekend to explore the castle. Maybe I'll have something to write about before you guys even write ms back!_

_Are the Tonks' treating you well? I hope they are. If not, always remember the trunk option. I'll take you to school with me in it if we can't find you guys a suitable school-time guardian. I'm sure they're being good though, Andromeda...she really seemed to care about us you know? It surprised me._

_Dora has promised she would show me around the school Sunday, she wanted to use today to catch up with her friends. And guess what--our Dora's dating Charlie Weasley! I wonder what will happen if they marry? Will us and the twins be sort of brothers if that happens?_

_Did you know the_ _Weasley's_ _have SEVEN children? That's outrageous! Fred and George have three older brother and one younger brother and a younger sister. Bill, who's already left Hogwarts and is apprenticed under_ _Gringotts_ _Bank. Charlie, a sixth year Prefect and Gryffindor_ _Quiditch_ _Captain as a Seeker. Percy, who as far as I can tell likes to boss people around and feel important, in third year. And their younger brother is your age Harry--maybe you can make friends? And Ginny, the sister, is Evan age. The twins say she's Boy-Who-Lived starstruck though so maybe not._

_Were you able to get into a good muggle school? What are you learning there?_

_Tell me what cool things you do at the Tonks' House? I hope you write._

_Your brother,_   
_Charles Potter._

_P.S. How are Hedwig and_ _Solongo_ _? I'll send this letter through the school owls but you can send yours back with Hedwig._

_-~-~_

_Dearest Daddy and Papa_

_I arrived safely at Hogwarts. You can tell_ _Ezzy_ _it really does exist and that woman was not '_ _barmy_ _' as he put it. Is he still running into walls because he goes too fast by accident? Being a mutant must be so hard, they are so many different mutations. I wonder if magic is a mutation all on it's own?_

_I made a friend almost straight away on the train to Hogwarts. I ended up in a compartment with three other girls, Angelina Johnson, Nora Beaumont, and Viola De Clare. At first it was great--we were laughing and the other girls were sharing stories. But then we started talking about our parents professions and...the other girls were so rude when I told them you were a doctor and a detective! In fact--I didn't even get to the detective part because two of the girls kicked me out of the compartment!_

_Angelina, she went with me after she yelled at the other two girls. She explained that some wizards think themselves better than others because their parents have magic and mine don't. She doesn't though, she's black you see, and she thinks it's just like being racist to judge someone based on whether or not their parents have magic. They call these 'pure-bloods'._

_Our new compartment had four boys in it, Fred and George Weasley (identical twins), Lee Jordan and Charles Potter. Charles was the one who invited us in and the conversation went much smoother from there on out. His mother was like me, and the others didn't seem to have a problem with my 'blood status' as Angie called it. Lee's parents were both 'half-bloods' and Angie's grandfather was a_ _muggleborn_ _. The twins are something called 'blood traitors' which means they're pure-blood but not bigots which seems like just another way of saying they're good people to mean. They_ _ could _ _be racist morons but choose not to be._

_I watched everyone avidly during the sorting but I'm not sure I was able to deduce them correctly. Wizards have different jobs, schools, lives and cultural backgrounds so it was difficult. The most I could do was tell if someone's family was wealthy or not based on how expensive their robes looked and the kind of fabric it was made of. (The_ _Wealsey's_ _are poor, Charles has a hefty inheritance, and the rest of my friends are lower middle class.)_

_My friends and I were all sorted into Gryffindor House, the house of the brave, chivalrous, adventurous and daring. I was almost sorting into_ _Ravenclaw_ _House the house of the wise, clever and witty. We were sorted alphabetically so by the time I was called three of my friends were already in Gryffindor and I wanted to be with them. I had to argue with the sorting until it let me into Gryffindor. The other two houses are Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Hufflepuff stands for loyalty, hard work, kindness, patience and fair play. Slytherin stands for cunning, ambition, resourcefulness, and self preservation._

_I wonder how much you can learn about a person from their house? Probably not much if I could convince the hat to put me somewhere else. But perhaps it matters a bit because they_ _ wanted _ _to get into that house. That would mean they valued those traits even if they didn't possess them._

_I can tell Fred and George like causing trouble. I saw them and Charles talking about some map of the school Charles' father had made and they want to use it play pranks. I couldn't hear them but you taught me how to read lips like a pro. Do you mind if I get in trouble? I know you_ _ mind _ _mind but will it bother you too badly?_

_I can't wait for our classes! Charles' foster sister, Tonks (she prefers to be identified by her last name only) and the twins brother Charlie offered to show us around the school so we know where to go._

_I miss you all._

_Sincerely, Rosie Watson-Holmes_

_P.S. I just realized they didn't use both my last names at the sorting but they used someone else's double last name. Did you guys not change my name when Papa adopted me? I know Ezra has both your names but somehow I don't...._

_-~-~_

_Big Brother Charles_

_We're alright, C. Of course me and Evan miss you lots but we'll see you in a couple months. I think five is lots, definitely better than zero. What are they all like? We expect an extensive description._

_Congrats on getting Gryffindor with all your friends. Those twins sound like fun, do they_ _ really _ _have that many brothers? And only one sister? Maybe we could all see_ _eachother_ _during Winter Hols and she could get used to me. I'm just a normal person,_ _Andromeda's_ _been showing me stuff about_ _Voldemort's_ _downfall and I'm sure out mother must have done something. I mean I was one and 1/2 and you were three!_

_Too bad about those blood purist but Andromeda has asked us to remind you not all_ _Slytherins_ _are like that. She was a Slytherin after all (and from a 'bad family' whatever that means) and she married Ted. I'm not sure about the Slytherin teacher, he can't give you bad marks for good work, can he? Andy says_ _Slytherins_ _are discriminated against lots so maybe he's just trying to make up for it by being mean to everyone else?_

_I think you'd be good a_ _Quiditch_ _! I get what you mean about going against girls though. Maybe you could be a Seeker? Seekers don't have to fight against anyone. But Andy says the Beaters are all the time trying to knock the Seekers off their brooms. She let me try on Dora's old broom and she said I was a natural flyer! Evan wasn't allowed to try, she says he's too young._

_Andromeda warns you not to get into any trouble, and not to hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it._ _Slytherins_ _get a bad rep but_ _alot_ _of them are alright. I think that means it's okay to prank people like Nora and Viola but not to target_ _Slytherins_ _as a whole as long as you don't get caught. Maybe you could even leave messages like "There's nothing wrong with Muggle-_ _Borns_ _!" or "People shouldn't be judged by their parents merits!" (Andy helped me with that last one, I couldn't phrase what I was trying to say properly.)_

_Maybe you and your friends could make your own maps of the castle? Then by the time we get to school everyone could have one! Three doesn't split into eight evenly after all. If you find them all you could give one to the twins, one to your girlfriends and one for you and Lee to share but there wouldn't be enough for us. Andy says there's a way you can pass your OWLs earlier than fifth year, she says you should ask Prof._ _Flitwick_ _because tons of_ _Ravenclaws_ _do it._

_And we've gotten into a muggle school, Andy had to use magic so they don't look too closely at our papers. We haven't started yet, school is next week for us because Andy signed us up too late,_ _whoppsie_ _._

_Your Little Brothers Harry and Evan Potter_

_P.S. We're fine Charles! And definitely being treated well--stop worrying! Did you think Andromeda and Ted were suddenly going to turn into evil child abusers as soon as you were gone? We love you, have fun and quit worrying._

_P.S.S And you can keep Hedwig. Maybe we should get you an owl as well--nevermind, Hedwig is offended...somehow she knew what I was writing._

_-~-~_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> I thought that would be a fun short chapter to write. Originally I was going to include Charles' first classes as well but decided not to. This just fit as a chapter and I felt including anything but letters would mess it up.
> 
> I know I didn't include Sherlock and John's reply but that was on purpose. Rosie's letter was just supposed to be my way of telling the girls' side of the train ride story. Ezzy is a nickname Ezra, her younger brother, obviously.
> 
> I spelled a lot as alot on purpose in Harry's letter. I remember not knowing that a lot was two separate words until I was like 14 so I thought it reasonable that a nine year old Harry wouldn't either. In Harry letter I tried to make him sound less adult-like but I failed. Let's just say Andromeda has been giving him training or something. I tried to imply that when she corrected his phrasing in the letter in regards to the pranking the blood purist.


	6. First Week of Classes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More like the first two days with a summary of the rest of the week. ;)
> 
> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> Oh and Charles saves some girl from falling to her death if flying class, no big deal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided that Astronomy takes place on a different day of the week for each year. For example: Harry's always takes place on Wednesday night so Charles' will take place on Monday. So it's like this, Astronomy Class- Monday/1st Yrs, Tuesday/2nd Yrs, Wednesday/3rd Yrs, Thursday/4th Yrs, Friday/5th Yrs
> 
> JK Rowling makes it so confusing because she thinks September 1st is on Sunday each year and the first day of classes is always on Monday. That's not how years work JK! Anyways, I couldn't find a conclusive Hogwarts Schedule so I made one. If it doesn't make sense I'm sorry. Just wanted to get that out there before you started reading.

Charles got his timetable the first day of classes. Yesterday Dora and Charlie had shown them where all the core classes were located and how to take shortcuts between them so Charles was pretty confident he would be able to find all his classes. And his timetable had arrived! Let's see then--  
-_-_-_-  
 **Gryffindor First Years Timetable-Charles Potter**

 _Curfew_ 9:00pm-6:00am

 _Library Hours_ _Mon-Fri_ 7:00am-8:30pm  
_Sat-Sun_ 9:00am-8:00pm

 _Breakfast_ 6:00am-9:00am

_Classes_

**_Monday-_ **

_Charms_ 9am-10am  
-Taught by Professor Flitwick

 _Herbology_ 10am-11am  
-Taught by Professor Sprout

 _Break_ 11am-11:15am

 _Double Potions_ 11:15am-1:15pm  
-Taught by Professor Snape

 _Lunch Break_ 1:15pm-2pm

 _Double_ _Defense Against the Dark Arts_ 2pm-4pm -Taught by Professor Bentley

 _Study Hall_ 4pm-6pm

 _Dinner_ 6pm-7pm

 _Astronomy_ 10pm-12am (Must Bring Pass to be Out of Bed) -Taught by Professor Sinistra

_**Tuesday-** _

_Double Transfiguration_ 9am-11am  
-Taught bt Professor McGonagall

 _Break_ 11am-11:15am

 _Double Charms_ 11:15am-1:15am

 _Lunch Break_ 1:15am-2pm

 _Flying_ 2pm-3pm  
-Instructed by Madam Hooch

 _History of Magic_ 3pm-4pm  
-Taught by Professor Binns

 _Study Hall_ 4pm-6pm

 _Dinner_ 6pm-7pm

_**Wednesday-** _

_Herbology_ 9am-10am

 _Transfiguration_ 10am-11am

 _Break_ 11am-11:15am

 _Double Charms_ 11:15am-1:15pm

 _Lunch Break_ 1:15pm-2pm

 _Double Potions_ 2pm-4pm

 _Study Hall_ 4pm-6pm

 _Dinner_ 6pm-7pm

_**Thursday** _ _**-** _

_Double History of Magic_ 9am-11am

 _Break_ 11am-11:15am

 _Double Transfiguration_ 11:15am-1:15pm

 _Lunch Break_ 1:15am-2pm

 _Double Defense Against the Dark Arts_ 2pm-4pm

 _Study Hall_ 4pm-6pm

 _Dinner_ 6pm-7pm

_**Friday-** _

_Charms_ 9am-10am

 _History of Magic_ 10am-11am

 _Break_ 11am-11:15am

 _Double Herbology_ 11:15am-1:15pm

 _Lunch Break_ 1:15pm-2pm

 _Double Potions_ 2pm-4pm

 _Study Hall_ 4pm-6pm

 _Dinner_ 6pm-7pm  
-_-_-_-

Well at least he could the nasty Professor out of the way on the first day of classes. Hopefully he wouldn't be too bad compared to the Dursley's, the other Gryffindors might be exaggerating.

The first class of the day started off very simple, Professor Flitwick started them off taking notes about the course aims of that year and what would be taught in class. Charles also found out their classes would be shared with one other house. This seemed odd as there were roughly fifty students in one class, it would be better if the classes were taken with just one house. Was this juat to promote school unity or because then they would need two of each teacher that way?

Herbology class was a bit different, Professor Sprout gave a short lecture on this years course aims and then they were able to handle some magical plants. Nothing dangerous like Charles had read in the book, just a small plant that was useful in healing potions. It sung a peaceful song everytime it was touched. _If I show this to Evan he'll want to keep one as a pet,_ Charles thought.

Charles was grateful for the small break before potions, it gave him enough time for a small cleaning charm Andromeda had taught him for getting dirt off your clothes. This lead to Rosie asking what he was doing. "Cleaning charm," he answered. "For getting small amounts of dirt off your clothes." And of course, he had to perform it on all his friends and promise to teach them later.

"Hoping to impress someone?" Lee asked, waggling his eyebrows.

"Yes, actually. Our potions teacher. I'm going to show up early, looking sharp, completely prepared for class. Everyone's been saying he's a jerk to anyone not in Slytherin and I want to see if he's just stricter or actually biased. I figured the best way to test that is to be on my best behavior so there's no reason for him to be mean." Charles looked around and everyone was shocked, had none of them thought of this before?

"That's a great idea! We should all do that too, right guys?" Rosie looked around and everyone nodded mutely.

Due to the break the six friends were able to arrive to the potions classroom early and pulled their potions book out to read. They figured they would make a good impression on the teacher if they all seemed interested in his subject. In Charles' experience, teachers always liked that. He'd already read all his school textbooks but it couldn't hurt to reread the first chapter, that was probably what the lesson was going to be about.

Snape began the lesson with roll call like all the other teacher had and that was also when the class went downhill. When he got the Charles' name he looked up and remarked, "Ah, Potter, brother of the _Boy-Who-Lived._ " If that was all he did it might have been enough, people had seemed surprised at Charles' relation to Harry several times over the past two days, it was nothing. But it got worst.

"Potter!" Snape yelled suddenly whilst Charles was copying down the instructions on the board. "What would you get if you added boomslang skin to a solution containing eye of newt, dew drops and unicorn horn?"

Charles began to feel uneasy. He knew the answer but he was also certain he wasn't supposed to. This meant Professor Snape was trying to trip him up on purpose! The answer to this question would not be found in any of his first year text, nor any of the textbooks the shopkeeper had recommended for muggle-borns just entering the wizarding world.

"A potion to cure most venomous snake bites, sir."

Charles could see the surprise in Professor Snape's eyes as he sneered, "Well it seems Mr.Potter has done some reading before he entered class today, trying to show everyone your little brother isn't the only Potter in existence are we? Fine! Where would you find a red helleborine ready to be harvested for a changeling potion?"

"Well sir, I could find one at any greenhouse that makes rare potions ingredients or I could find one in any dark woodland habitats on soil containing lime, also known referred to as 'chalky'. If I was in a hurry I'd definitely just go to a greenhouse, the red helleborine, also called the cephalanthera rubra by scientist is a rare flower, so that would save a lot of time if you need the ingredient quickly."

Professor Snape's lip began to curl, "I suppose you also know all the ingredients to a Scar Removal Potion?"

Was that supposed the be a dig at Harry's 'famous' scar? Charles grinded his teeth, "I do in fact, sir: leeches, three fermented newt eyes, 4 ounces of unicorn horn dust, the prickles off a cactus and the stem of a peony flower."

Snape's veins looked like they were going to pop off of his forehead. "Well? Why aren't you all writing this down?"

 _Probably because you didn't tell them to,_ Charles snarked inside his head. He couldn't have been more disgusted with this teacher. _This_ was the man who had once been his mother's friend? In her journal it said he had called her 'that' foul word and afterwords begged for her forgiveness. Charles didn't know what word was so terrible his mother would end a friendship over it being said once but whatever it was he could imagine this man saying it.

When the bell for lunch rang the Gryffindor students rushed out of potions class with vigor. Lee opened his mouth to speak but Charles hushed him, "Lunch first. I have a lot to say." After a fast eaten delicious meal Charles sighed. "Well, Fred, George, your brother wasn't kidding."

"I can't believe that man!" Rosie huffed now that it seemed they were allowed to speak. "I didn't even know those last two questions--and I know the first wasn't on the curriculum. How did you even know, Charles?"

"I got some extra books because I was so excited about entering this world. The first one is in, A Hundred Potions Cures to Adventurous Maladies, as you seem to know. The second question is in a book about extremely rare potions, the changeling potion is a potion that changes you body to a certain image, you have to have a drawn picture of what you want to change dropped in the potion before consumption. The third is something Harry wanted to look into to get rid of his scar--it didn't work."

Fred and George stared at him open-mouthed and Lee and Angelina were both staring at him blankly. "Wow Gred--"

"--looks like we--"

"--befriended a bookworm!" The twins said together.

"Yeah mate, I didn't know you did that much research before class." said Lee.

"Well it was all for nothing," Charles sighed. "How are we going to learn with a teacher that doesn't teach? He just asked a bunch of questions you could tell he didn't expect me to know the answer to and then put the instructions on the board and stalked around the classroom making sarcastic remarks."

"Maybe there's a way to get out of the class--a tutor or something," Angelina suggested.

"Can you hire a tutor to teach a class for you?" Rosie wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure, we could read the school rules and see. They must have them somewhere, we could ask Professor McGonagall." Charles was glad she was his Head of House, then it wouldn't be so awkward if he asked her things.

"That's a great idea," said Fred (Charles could finally identify which was which by a small freckle on the right of George's neck that wasn't on Fred's).

"Yeah, then we know how many rules there are to break before we graduate!" George finished cheerfully.

Angelina groaned. "This is gonna be a thing with you two, isn't it?"

"My dear Angelina--"

"--we plan for it to be!"

-~-~

The last class of the day, Defense Against the Dark Arts, taught by Professor Bentley, had to be the best class that day. Professor Bentley was a short, spiky-haired, olive skinned woman wearing muggle clothes. Charles noticed some of the Slytherins they were sharing the class with groan.

"Hello! I thought for today we could all get to know each other first. We'll start with me--my name is Susannah Bentley and I'm going to be teaching you all Defense Against the Dark Arts this year." The class mumbled a few shy 'hello's and looked down at their feet. "Well that won't do--here, let's play a game. I've already moved the desk to the side so I want you to all come stand in a circle and then we're gonna sit. Come on now, let's all gather in. Okay, now we're gonna go in a circle counter clockwise sharing either one fact about yourself or one fact about defense you know, along with your name. Let's see here, we'll start with...--you, girl with the pink hair scrunchy!"

The small girl Charles knew to be Emily Topper, a girl in Angelina and Rosie's dorm froze. "Um, well...my name is Emily and I just learned about magic a few months ago...." She paused and looked at Professor Bentley, probably hoping that was enough.

"That's good--good. And now you," the Professor pointed to the boy sitting next to her.

"My name is Dylan and I learnt about a spell from my cousin last week that can shield you...um...it was called _Protego_?"

Charles listened carefully to what his classmates had to say but most of the information wasn't very noteworthy. He kept track of which students sneered when someone said they were muggle-born and if someone shared a spell they knew like Dylan did but most of it were things like, "I have a cat named Mr.Fluffs." and "My favorite color is _." When it was his turn, Charles shared a spell he knew that could detect poisons in foods.

Defense was a double period so for the second half of the class Professor Bentley had them practicing a spell that would render someone immobile for a period of time. _Immobulus_ _,_ was the incantation. "This spell is very useful if you don't know what to do in a dangerous situation. You can freeze someone in place, not hurting them and go get an adult to help you with the situation. I thought it would be useful for children your age to learn so you can defend yourselves, though hopefully you never need to use it."

They used study hall a free period mostly, the only teacher that had assigned homework to be turned in was Snape, the other teachers had merely said to read the next chapter of their textbooks to prepare for their next class. Charles was able to share some easy spells Andromeda had taught him with his friends that she said wouldn't actually be taught in their classes. He also tentatively brought up animagus transformation.

"So it's like how McGonagall can turn into a cat?" Rosie asked scrunching up her nose.

"Yeah, and my Dad and his friends started their's in third year. It's very difficult but I think it's worth trying out later. I thought we could become familiar with the process now so when we try it out we'll be super prepared." Charles watched their faces carefully as he spoke, he wanted to keep them excited about it rather than upset the process was so long and complicated.

"It would be cool to be able to turn into an animal."

"I bet we could sneak around easier that way."

"And pull tons of pranks!" The twins said in unison.

Charles rolled his eyes. Was that all the Weasley Twins thought about? At least he could use their prank obsession to his advantage. "Yeah but we can't tell anybody we're doing this. We should also probably register with the Ministry after school because it's illegal to have a form and keep it secret. My Dad didn't because they were in the middle of a war and he thought it'd be useful but we probably should."

"Why's it illegal? You're just turning into an animal. Can't you do that using transfiguration anyway?" Angelina asked.

"Well you can but it's different," Rosie began to explain. "When you transfigure yourself into an animal you can't turn back, another wizard has to do it for you. And if you stay too long as an animal you start to think like that animal and loose your human self. An animagus could use their form for illegal things and never be caught because no one would suspect them."

"But couldn't two wizards work together to do illegal things? As long as they don't stay too long as an animal they'll still be able to do things as an animal and get away with it." Lee scratched his head, looking confused.

"Huh," said Rosie. "I guess they could. It's also illegal to transfigure another wizard without their consent but two people working together would obviously consent to the other person...."

"It's probably one of those things the law can't cover. It tries to but there are some things that would slip through the cracks," Angelina shrugged.

Their first Astronomy class left Charles and the rest of the Gryffindors wondering why it was held on a Monday from 10pm to midnight. Dora had already told Charles every year had their lessons on a different day of the week but it was no less frustrating.

-~-~

Charles had the exciting duty of waking up his dormmates as all of them seemed to want to sleep in after last night's Astronomy lesson. They ended up shoving food into their mouths as quickly as possible and rushing to their first Transfiguration class.

Tuesday was Double Transfiguration so they spent the first hour copying notes about the course aims and the second hour trying to turn a matchstick into a needle. This _wasn't_ one of the spells Charles had already practiced so he ended up learning along with the rest of his piers. Picturing a needle in his head he whispered the incantation. Frowning, Charles looked down at his needle, it had turned silver and _looked_ like a needle but when he picked it up it was still made of wood.

"Professor? I almost did it...."

Professor McGonagall leaned over to look at his needle. "Ah yes, what did you do?" She looked at him expectantly.

"Well...I pictured a needle in my mind and I said the spell correctly, at least I think I did."

"I see, could I show yours to the class?" Charles nodded. "See here everyone! Mr.Potter has almost turned his matchstick into a needle--it looks like a needle but something is still wrong, can anyone tell me what that is?" The first year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws all looked around at each other and shook their heads. "What Mr.Potter did was picture the needle in his mind but _didn't_ picture the matchstick _turning into_ the needle. So now we have a matchstick with the shape and colour of a needle but it is still, in fact, a matchstick. Ten points to Gryffindor, for a nearly perfect first try." And the Professor smiled at him as she walked over to help another student.

"That was brilliant mate!"

"We heard McGonagall hardly ever smiles."

"Like ever."

Now that the Professor had basically told them what to do many other students were able to effect their needles by the end of the class period but only three students completed the transfiguration of a matchstick into a needle; Charles, Rosie, and Runa Lovelace from Ravenclaw. The twins were both able to harden theirs and Lee was able to make his change colour and Angelina was frustrated with hers because all it did was make a hole at the end where the thread would be.

During the fifteen minute break the group joked about what their animagus forms might be as they sat in the Charms classroom. Lee was disappointed they wouldn't get to _pick_ their forms. Rosie was more philosophical, "Here it says your animagus form is a representation of your inner self but what if that changes? What if while we're kids we're a little kitten and as adults we're more like lions? How deep does the animagus represent ourselves?"

"Not sure, my Dad wrote that his animagus was the same as his patronus but he doesn't say what _that_ means."

"Oh we know," said one Weasley twin, Charles couldn't see their necks at the angle they were sitting.

"Our Dad has a patronus--"

"--he says they drive away dementors."

"Those are the guards of Azkaban--"

"--if you two nerds--"

"--haven't already read that in some book somewhere."

"Why would you need a spell to drive away prison guards?" Asked Rosie. It seemed her question would have to wait as around forty first years scrambled into the room and the class soon began.

Their first flying class was after lunch and Charles questioned the sanity of teachers who would schedule a physical activity directly after eating. This class was also shared with the Slytherins...two rival houses in a physical class? Really?

This proved ineffective almost immediately. It was alright until they actually got on their brooms. Charles proved to be a natural flyer and was distracted from all his worries for a while. Then he noticed the teacher yelling something, he drifted down to get a better look. Emily Topper, the muggle-born girl who wore a pink scrunchy was drifting off towards the castle.

"Girl--girl! Get down here! Come down!" The instructor yelled.

"I caaaaaaannn't!" She screamed as he broom carried her closer and closer to one of the towers.

Charles wasn't even thinking about it when he zoomed off after her wondering why Madam Hooch wasn't doing the same. He could hear the teacher yelling for him to come back but ignored her. A little girl was high enough in the air to fall to her death and _she_ wasn't doing anything. It seemed to take ages to reach Emily though Charles knew it was only minutes.

"I can't controlllllll thiiiiiiis thiiiiiing!" Emily yelled as the broom gave a dangerous jerk to the left.

"Don't worry! If you fall I'll catch you!" Charles moved his broom carefully closer to the Gryffindor girl and reached out a hand. After what must've been dozens of tries his hand closed around her broom. It jerked him forward and bucked him to the edge of his own broomstick. Just barely holding on he slowly slid down and pulled Emily's broom towards him. "You have to get on mine--it won't let me control yours!"

She shook her head wildly. "No. No, I can't."

"Yes you can, I'm right here," Charles tried to smile reassuringly but he was sure it came out more like a grimace.

"I'm too afraid, I don't--don't think I belong in Gry-Gryffindor," she hiccuped.

"Of course you do, the hat put you here didn't it?" She nodded. "Well then you belong here, now come on." Emily moved to get on his broom but the wild broom gave one last buck and she slid off screaming as Charles caught her.

By the time they got back down McGonagall was there by Madam Hooch with a furious look on face. Charles steeled himself for a scolding as his Head of House started ranted. Adults didn't like to be interrupted so he waited patiently until she was done. "No offense meant Ma'am but no one else was doing anything. All Madam Hooch did was yell for Emily to come down which she obviously couldn't do as her broom was out of control. I'll take whatever punishment you give me but I won't apologize for saving someone's life."

The Professor stared at him for a long moment and sighed. "Ten points from Gryffindor for disobeying a teacher...and fifty points for saving another students life." And the Transfiguration Professor turned and walked away.

After that exciting but harrowing ordeal Charles listen to his fellow Gryffindors congratulate him, half of the girls stared at him and sighed dramatically while the other half crowded around Emily and comforted her. Even Angelina and Rosie were treating him weird so Charles was quite glad Flying class was followed by History of Magic....

....Charles takes that back. The most exciting part of the class was that Professor Binns was a ghost and walked through the blackboard. Halfway though the class even Rosie had given up and was reading a book Charles recognized as being on the muggle-born recommendations list. When the Study Hall bell rang many students jumped and looked around wildly before stumbling out of the classroom.

"We should definitely see if there's a way we can skip classes," Rosie scowled as she shoved her books back into her bag. "Self study would be better than this."

Deciding to spent their Study Hall period in the library Rosie bravely approached the stern looking librarian. "Excuse me, Ma'am. Is there a list of school rules I could take a look at?" At her narrowed eyes Rosie hurried to explain. "I would just like to know what the protocol is for certain things, specifically what to do with certain classes." This was a satisfactory answer to the librarian because she handed Rosie a small booklet and returned to her previous activity.

The rest of the group stared at Rosie as she read skimmed through the booklet. Unnerved Rosie snapped, "Can you please do something else while you wait--you're driving me crazy!"

"How about now?" Rosie glared a hole in Lee's forehead and he looked down. "Nevermind."

"Here it is! 'If a student finds a teacher's practices dissatisfactory he or she may apply for self study in place of that class....Please note that a student MUST prove they are capable of learning this subject on their own....There will meet with their Head of House to take an exam quarterly throughout the year and must also pass their final exam to continue with self study.' Well we can do that then!" Rosie squealed excitedly.

"But how do we prove we can do it on our own? What kind of exam will we have to take?" Angelina bit her lip.

"I'm sure it will be ease!" Charles enthused. "Binns puts us to sleep--we might as well be self studying already! And all Snape does is put instructions on the board and tell us to begin--he didn't bother even giving an introduction to potions. His very presence discourages asking questions, how else are we supposed to learn?"

"I guess you're right Charles, so should we bring this to McGonagall?"

"Sure, Angie, we should plan out what we have to say too--she might ask questions and we might even have to take a test right off the bat."

"Right off the bat?"

"Sorry, guess that must be a muggle expression."

-~-~

By Friday the six Gryffindors felt they were ready to test out of Potions and History of Magic. During Study Hall they went to McGonagall's Office and knocked on the door. They hadn't quite thought this through however because the door was locked and there was no answer. On the door there was a sign that read _**In Class**_ , feeling very stupid the group made their way back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Of course she has classes! The older students take extra classes, that's probably why we have Study Hall everyday--space for new classes later on." Rosie groaned, banging her head against her book.

"That's actually something I don't get guys. I counted up the hours each class takes a week and it's inconsistent. We have six hours of Charms and Potions each week, four hours of Herbology, DADA and History, and five hours of Transfiguration. I get why we only have one hour a week for Flying and two for Astronomy but the other hours don't make sense. Are Charms and Potions more important than Transfiguration, and are those classes more important than Herbology, History and DADA?" Charles wondered.

"You've got a good point Charles! We should ask McGonagall that."

Blushing Charles mumbled, "Thanks Angie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> I wrote most of my AN at the begining of the chapter.
> 
> Potions-I thought I'd give Charles different questions to answer. I made them up and they aren't a part of the HP Universe as far as I know and I didn't see them in any other fanfictions. Like the Red Helleborine stuff was true, I just looked up 'rarest flowers in Britain' and that was the first response.
> 
> I found the Hogwarts Timetable on google and just used that one, all I did was replace wednesday with monday for Astronomy.
> 
> I thought it was really weird that students couldn't drop classes and self study but Hermione could get a TimeTurner and take 2 extra classes while driving herself insane? I get having one bad class, but it seems like Hogwarts had three each year. In Harry's first year he has a teacher who puts all the students to sleep, a teacher who bullies 1/4th of the school and treats another 1/4th as above the rest, and a teacher you can't understand because he stutters too much. And it basically continues each year with teachers getting worst and worst. So Charles will be dropping HoM and Potions. When Harry gets to school he'll drop those along with DADA until Lupin shows up.
> 
> Still not sure how early I will make them all become animagus. I think I'll have them start in second year because after you make the potion you have to wait for a thunderstorm or maybe it's a lightning storm? You have to wait for one before you drink the potion so they might be waiting for a while. Until then you can comment on what you want their animagus to be.
> 
> I'm thinking about rushing through the rest of Charles' first year using letters. This Chapter basically describes what his year is going to be like. 
> 
> I wonder if anyone will read this. I'm writing this for me mostly but I'd be nice if people were reading
> 
> Now I'm all caught up with what I had posted on WattPad. Now the updates will be less frequent (I mean this all looks as if it was written within a day so...)


	7. The Marauders Map

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charles, Fred and George get the Marauders Map.
> 
> The six friends play a school wide prank.
> 
> Charles visits Harry and Evan on the anniversary of their parents death, they all visit their parents graves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys get a little of Harry's point of view this chapter.
> 
> I also correct a mistake I made regarding two minor characters. More notes on this at the end.

It took a while for Charles and the Weasley's to hatch a plan for the theft of the Marauders Map. His father's notes didn't say where the hidden room was and they found out from Percy Weasley, who had just gotten back from a Hogsmeade trip that the Shrieking Shack was located out of the school. They would have to steal the one in Filch's Office.

It honestly wasn't very hard to get sent to Filch's Office. In fact it was Super Easy, Barely An Inconvenience ***wink***. The boys just snuck out of their beds and started randomly wandering the castle.

"Students! Students out of bed!" The caretaker yelled. He grabbed Fred's arm and started dragging him towards his office. "You both better follow or this one will be hanging by his ankles in the dungeons taking three times the punishment!"

OkaY...Charles was positive he wasn't allowed to do that. The three pranksters-to-be didn't have to wait long before the second phase of their plan commenced. Peeves, having been promised a year full of chaos if he helped them, started banging and yelling while Filch was preparing their punishment. The caretaker's face turned an alarming shade of red as he rushed out of the office muttering expletives.

The Map was, of course, in a cabinet marked **Confiscated and Highly Dangerous** which confused Charles. It was just a map of Hogwarts, how dangerous could it be? He voiced this.

"Filch probably didn't know what it was--" "--and anything that could help a troublemaker must be dangerous to him."

Speaking of troublemakers, the three new Marauders hurried out of the room before the caretaker could come back. Charles collapsed in his bed as soon as they reached Gryffindor Tower. "Man," he huffed. "Wasn't that something?"

Out of breath, the twins nodded. "Tomorrow we should get started--" "--on that chaos we promised Peeves." And with matching grins, the two passed out. Charles didn't think it prudent to mention they were both still in the same bed until after he had woken up everyone in the dorm the next morning.

-~-~

The group had a bit of trouble trying to name themselves, they couldn't just be the New Marauders because Charles would instantly be suspected. The girls and Lee, who had decided 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em' also wanted a new, fresh name, not one copied from one members father. Angelina suggested Muggle-Born Champions because they were planning on specifically terrorizing blood purist while just playing harmless pranks on the rest of the school but that was vetoed because they didn't want to bring undue suspicion onto muggle-borns.

"Do we even need a name?" Fred asked. Charles had notice something about the twins, they didn't speak in unison or in fractured sentences as often when with just a small group of people. How could he not notice that? The six of them spent hours together now that they had dropped two of the same classes.

"I think we should have one," said Angelina.

"Anyone with a righteous cause needs a name," Rosie nodded.

"And you're sure we can't just use Marauders?" the other twin whined.

"Yes, George. We talked about this, many of the teachers here taught when Charles' parents were in school. They would suspect him immediately if we started using the same name." Angelina said sternly.

Rosie now had that spacey look on her face that told them she was looking in her 'Mind Palace'. One of Rosie's dads, Sherlock, had taught her how to store all the relevant information she learned in her head like computer files. The rest of the group was bored and certain Rosie would pop out of her trance-like state with an answer, they started planning their first prank.

"Snakes in the Slytherin Common Room?"

"Replace all Snape's potion ingredients with Shampoo?"

"Make Nora Beaumont and Viola De Clare look like hags?"

"Do we even know how to do any of these things?"

"Magic!"

"Well yes, but I meant _how with magic_ smartasses," Lee huffed, blushing.

In the end it was decided that their first prank would take place in the Great Hall, at breakfast, and it would be played on everyone. Charles would go down to the kitchens and convince the house-elves to let him put a few potions in everyone's drink that would turn their hair an unnatural color, put an offensive word on their forehead in temporary permanent ink and the different houses would make their mascots animal noise at random times in the day. The twins would put up a banner behind the teacher table, triggered to fall when a loud banging sound was made. Angelina was going to wait by the Slytherin's Common Room until Beaumont and De Clare came out and cast a spell that would make everyone who looked at them smell rotten eggs. Rosie was going to be the one to cast the spell that _made_ the loud banging sound while Lee triggered a pre-set confetti charm to fall from the ceiling right after the banner fell. It would take them a few weeks to master these spells but the group was confident they could do it before Halloween. (Charles wanted a good story to tell his brothers.)

Just in time to here about the plan, Rosie blinked rapidly, indicating she had left her Mind Palace and was now aware of what was going on around her. Lee opened his mouth, most likely to start telling her about her part in the plan but the blonde haired girl held up her hand. "I have our name."

-~-~

The Justice Raiders made their debut on October 20th. It was just as glorious as planned, Rosie was a bit miffed she was the one doing the part in front of the teachers but no one noticed her because everyone suddenly had colorful hair and rude words written on their foreheads. Lee had suggested their confetti charm have certain colors to represent each of them. There was six of them, he reasoned, and no one would think the colors meant anything.

Rosie had chosen read as her color because it was the color of her name and the twins were fighting over it. Angelina wanted green, the color of her mother's Quidditch team. Lee picked blue, it was just his favorite color. The twins, now unable to use red, chose orange and yellow and refused to tell them which one chose which. Charles decided on grey, claiming it was a neutral color. (He didn't want to say the real reason was because Angelina had chosen _his_ favorite color, green, the color of his mother's eyes and the color of the spell that killed her.)

Snape screamed for justice (ironic) as a bucket of shampoo was dumped on his now neon pink colored hair. (A last minute adjustment made to the plan when Fred pointed out Snape always sat in the same spot each day.) Filch predictably yelled about punishment (was it not illegal to 'whip students until the bled'? How had this man not been fired yet?).

"Calm down, calm down." The Headmaster tapped his spoon against his goblet. "Everyone, I know we must all be quite upset." He suddenly gave out a mighty ROAR that made Professor Spout jump. "But rest assured, I'm sure we can still get through the rest of our day without to much trouble....and we must look on the bright side....now we can display house unity!" And the green-bearded Headmaster sat back down.

The entire rest of the day students whispered about The Justice Raiders and who they might possibly be. "See, I told you no one would connect the six different confetti colors to six different people." Roger Davies, a newly sorted Ravenclaw who had to come in to school late due to a dragon pox quarantine in his house, had just been heard whispering that the prank was by a seventh year who was going to miss Hogwarts and this was their goodbye to the school.

Adrian Pucey, a Slytherin who had missed the sorting because his mother had just died, swore revenge on the Raiders because his forehead had unexpectedly read **grief**. Charles winced, the potion they'd made was supposed to write something randomly offensive about a person.

"Cheer up mate, everyone's talking about us!" Lee said, nudging him with his arm.

"I feel bad about what the potion did to Pucey, I thought it would just bring up naughty words a person knew and embarrass a couple kids--not something like _that_."

Lee grimaced too, "Well, it already happened so...sometimes you just gotta take your mistakes and live with them, you just remember to never do the thing that upset you again and make it work....That's what my Ma always says anyways."

"That's really wise, Lee."

-~-~

Harry waited anxiously for Mrs.Tonks to come back with Charles. It was Halloween and even though students weren't supposed to go home again until Christmas Andromeda Tonks had... _convinced_ Professor Dumbledore to let Charles visit them on Halloween, in April on his birthday and in May on Evan's birthday. Evan was looking straight at the floor and being completely silent, he did this when he was nervous. Harry could tell what he was thinking, what if Charles had realized how much better his life was without them and he didn't want to be their big brother anymore? It was stupid, they both knew, but Charles must have realized his life was much easier without them.

Solongo hissed from his shoulder, § _Something is bothering you Speaker, what is it? I will strangle it for you, all you need to do is ask._ §

§ _It's nothing. I'm just worried my brother will not like me as much anymore._ §

§ _Ridiculous._ § Solo hissed. § _You're nest-mother will always care for you._ §

§ _For the last time_ _Solongo_ _, C is not my nest-mother!_ § Harry hissed, embarrassed.

§ _I don't see how he is not. He made sure you were fed, warm and took pain for you when you were in danger._ §

That was just it though wasn't it? Charles had always taken care of him and Evan. He gave them _everything_ , Charles made it seem as if his whole life revolved around them. Now that Charles had real friends and Harry and Evan were safe for now, would he even want to spend time with them?

§ _Sometimes nest-mothers become interested in different things once their hatchlings are prepared to leave. This does not mean they do not love them._ §

§ _Thank you,_ _Solongo_ _. And Charles is still not my nest-mother!_ § All Harry heard in return was hissing laughter.

-~-~

**_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death_ **

  
"What does it mean Andy?" Charles heard Evan ask. He felt an rough, unusual prink of irritation though if you asked him he wouldn't be able to tell you what for.

"It's just a saying...I'm not actually sure where it came from," Andromeda admitted. Charles felt another strange emotion for this situation, a sense of victory, a cruel satisfaction that she was unable to answer _his_ little brother's question.

The three of them were each allowed some alone time with the stone which signaled that their parents corpses were six feet below them. Charles couldn't help but feel irritated all throughout the day, at Andromeda, who had been so kind to them, and at his younger brothers, who had done nothing wrong. He couldn't identify _why_ exactly he wanted to scream whenever Harry or Evan asked _Andromeda_ for help with something or why he couldn't stand to look at her helping Evan do his math homework.

It was when Harry approached him for the _first time_ that day he finally snapped. "Why don't you ask _Andy_ to help? She might be with Evan right now but I'm sure she'll help you when she's finished. You don't need _me_ anymore." Charles stomped down the hall to what had been their shared room and locked the door wandlessly. Feeling incredibly small, he went into the small closet that he was shocked to see was filled with clothes. _I guess they don't need the seven compartment trunk after all._

Charles could stop the tears from brimming in his eyes as he curled up inside his brothers' clothes. Ever since their mother had died right in front of him he made sure his brothers felt loved. Mommy's last words had been that she _loved them_ and Charles had desperately wanted them to know that. None of them remembered their mother. Only Charles. Even now he could only remember the sound of her voice _Mommy loves you, Daddy loves you, We will always love you, Mommy loves you...._

He must have been there for hours. Alone in the dark closet attempting to imitate the small cupboard he and his brothers would get shoved into if they caused too much trouble. The eldest Potter brother couldn't bear to get up, what would Harry say if he saw him? Charles had _snapped at him_ for Merlin's sake! And for what? Asking Andromeda for help with thing Charles felt should be his to help with? He had been gone for two months, it was only natural...of course they would get attached to...the tears returned to his eyes.

It was only his highly trained senses, honed from years of abuse and surprise attacks from Dudley's gang, that causes him to notice the door creeping open and then closed again. Two small bodies sat next to him on both sides and leaned their heads onto his shoulder's. Slowly Charles' tears dried and he lifted his head up to look into matching green eyes.

"Are you mad with us?" It was almost scary when they spoke at the same time.

"No." Charles didn't want to tell them the real reason he was upset. How could he? I'm crying because you asked Andy for help all day when you usually ask me? _How incredibly petty,_ Charles sneered to himself. But it seemed they understood, at least a bit, because they laid their heads back down on his shoulders.

"We love you C."

"We'll always love you."

-~-~

§ _I told you your nest-mother cared for you._ § The rainbow boa hissed as they settled down to sleep that night.

Cheeks burning with embarrassment Harry hissed back. § _Quiet_ _Solongo_ _. This is when humans sleep._ § Harry could hear the constrictors laughter as he tried unsuccessfully to fall asleep. The middle brother stayed awake all night thinking of his brother's tears and fetal form when they found him in the closet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> This feels like a sad place to leave it and this chapter is shorter than most of mine but I couldn't continue. I only have a few notes for this chapter:
> 
> 1 The Justice Raiders = Raider in a synonym for Marauder and they plan to seek justice for muggle-borns by pranking blood purist.
> 
> 2 I realized after I had posted the sorting that Roger Davies and Adrian Pucey were in the same year as Fred and George too late. Before I wrote that chapter I looked up their year and it only listed the Gryffindors and all I could remember was that Cedric was in their year as well. The two canon Slytherins I listed were mostly guesswork because they disappeared around when Fred and George did. So I made up some rubbish about Roger's house being quarantined and Adrian missing the sorting because his mother died. *sad face* 😥
> 
> 3 Yep. Charles is definitely Harry and Evan's mother. He got a bit jealous when they leaned on Andy after spending two months with her. Harry and Evan were just trying to give their brother space because (if it wasn't clear) Charles had been sending non-stop letter about all the fun he was having with his friends. Like, he starts writing before he gets his brothers' reply. Silly boys, your big bro was just trying to share with you the fun he was having, he missed you both to a painful extent. 
> 
> 4 Solongo is the smartest snake in the world.
> 
> *^¥°§Ω¤-￦|~{[(5 I just wanted to say something. Please read this part. I hope none of you think I'm writing these because I think you're stupid. I don't. I just wanted to answer any possible questions before they come up. And if you read these and you still have questions, you're not stupid either. I probably just didn't think about it because to me it was obvious, being the writer and all. Thank you. )]}~|￦-¤Ω§°¥^*
> 
> 6 One last thing. I realized that in the 2nd Chapter where they buy Solongo I mentioned a picture at the top of the story. If you're reading this on Ao3 and not Wattpad, it's not there. I just forgot to delete that part when I Copy-Pasted to that sight. Don't worry you're not blind, sorry, lol.
> 
> 7 Did you catch that Screen Rant reference? Or as I like to call it, a Ryan George reference because he's the only person on Screen Rant worth watching. Watching Pitch Meeting is Super Easy...you finish.


	8. Letters--Between Halloween and Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bunch of letter from Charles to Harry and Evan, and to Remus Lupin.

_My Dearest Brothers,_   
_Harry and Evan_

_Subject,_ _The Justice Raiders_ _Pranks_

_Guess what little brothers?_ _The Justice Raiders_ _,_ **_(Me, Lee Jordan, the Weasley Twins, Rosie Watson and Angelina Johnson)_ ** _played our second prank today! We decided to play it on the dour potions professor Snape, his entire classroom was continuously leaking shampoo from an unknown source ;). It wasn't very good but I only just got back and the others wanted to wait for me to plan. Do you guys have any ideas from Dad's journals and textbooks to give me? I'm glad I took Mum's, they help with schoolwork, but Dad's had all the good pranking ideas._

_I'm glad you guys feel safe with Andromeda. I'm sorry I overreacted when you guys liked her so much._

_Your Brother,_   
_Charles Potter_

-~-~

_Our Big Brother_

_Hey Bro! Glad your pranking's going well. I wonder if Professor Snape decided to take a hint and wash his hair ;). Maybe he does use shampoo and it's some type of genetic condition? That's unfortunate. At least our messy hair makes us look "cute" according to Dora. Me and Evan looked in Dad's books and he did this prank with the hallways that make it feel like you're walking upside down. It's some sort of potion you spray in the air, combined with some sort of charm on the floor. We included the instructions on another page._

_We'd rather you be an adult and have custody of us instead. Love you C._

_Your Little Brothers, Harry and Evan_

_-~-~_

_My Dearest Brothers,_   
_Harry and Evan_

_That prank worked great! Everyone was walking around dazed and confused for a few hours but nobody got hurt! Prof. Flitwick said it was an impressive bit of charmwork--says the culprits must be in 4th year at least! Rosie says that's just because we aren't supposed to learn about combining different types of magic until we're that year--and only 5th years are supposed to practice it--and so the only reason he said that is because we got information from another outside source. Angie says that's rubbish--if we were only supposed to learn that type of magic in 4th year then it's fourth hear level, whether or not we learnt it from another source. Let me tell you little brothers, when two girls argue about something passionately--it's scary._

_There was something weird though, Snape...he stared right at me when the prank was discovered. I don't know why. I made sure I was scene in the Great Hall while the WTs were setting up the manual part because this was a prank Dad had pulled before. Why would he think I had anything to do with it? It's not like he can read my mind...and if he could, that would be illegal, right?_

_We also had time to explore the school--one of the passageways Dad talked about is closed in but there's a decent sized room for the six of us to plan pranks. I still can't find the other two Marauders Maps! Does Dad make any other mention of the secret room that hides itself? Am I really supposed to just_ _find_ _it?_

_I love you too. I know._

_Your Brother,_   
_Charles Potter_

_P.S. What do you guys want for Christmas? I'm thinking of a broom--I really want to try out for the all-boys Quidditch team in third year. I found out from TWs older brother Charlie that you try out for that team in 3rd, not 2nd like the main Gryffindor team._

_-~-~_

_Big Brother_

_That's great about the prank! 4th year level--I guess that makes sense, Dad and his friends played that in 5th year. To be honest, Evan made me choose a difficult one on purpose, he still thinks pranks are mean. Thanks for the advice about girls. Ted said something strange when I read that part out loud to him; first he laughed, then he said that'd be useful advise for the future when we stopped thinking girls were icky. Evan says it's just cause adults are weird, he's probably right._

_Weird that Snape stared at you. It's probably just cause he went to school with our Dad. He was the target of alot of their pranks, I'm sure Dad and his friends took into account which hallways he walked the most--they had the first MM made by 4th year so they could've known stuff like that. I'm sure reading minds is illegal, something so wrong must be._

_(I checked with Andy and Ted real quick. Ted's never heard of it but Andy says there's this thing called le-gil-i-men-cy. Legilimency lets wixen--Andy says that's plural for witches and wizards--look into one another's mind. They don't just read it, they feel it, they taste it, they hear it, they're with you in your mind as you experience whatever you're thinking about. She says it's unlikely that Snape knows legilimency because it's rare but if you're worried she'll start you on lessons over Winter Hols--there's some counter you can use or something.)_

_Good on exploring the castle, that room sounds like a great find! Because the passageway is blocked people are less likely to bother and you guys can plan your pranks in peace. Peace to plan chaos! Guess you'll have to keep looking--Dad literally never mentions where the hidden room is, I did find something that says you have to walk past it twice--or was it thrice? Dad speaks in riddles when he's trying to hide something._

_A broom to share would be fine for Christmas--I feel like we have so much money now but we shouldn't waste it._

_Shame about the Gryffindor Male Team, still afraid of fighting girls? It's just a game C-C. ;) :)_

_Your Little Brothers,_   
_Harry and Evan_

_P.S C, this is Ev. I stole the letter when Harry wasn't looking because I wanted you to know I think it's good you don't wanna beat up girls in Quidditch! It's not nice! Besides, getting to wait another year will give you time to "hone your skills". And I just realized I didn't have to say this was me because you know my handwriting. I'm stupid. Sorry._

_-~-~_

_Evan,_

_You aren't stupid. Now pass the rest of the letter to Harry, or read it and give it to him after. I don't care._

_Charles._

_-~-~_

_My Dearest Brothers_

_Good to know about the counter to legilimency--mind telling me what it's called? You know, so I can find books on it? I'm just teasing--don't make that face Evan, I'm not mad at you. Seriously though, name._

_I'm not afraid of girls, Harry._

_Sorry I don't have much to write; I sent my first letter to Mr.Lupin today and my hand is cramping from that and homework._

_Your Brother,_   
_Charles Potter_

_-~-~_

_Dear Mister Remus Lupin_

_My name is Charles Fleamont Cadmar Potter. I'm a 1st year in Gryffindor House at Hogwarts. Recently I was told you were one of my father's friends while he was in school. The only close friend still living in fact._

_I was wondering if you and I could write to each other? Or if you could at least tell me some things about my father only you would know? If you are willing, please send any replies to Professor McGonagall or Ted Tonks. I have an unspecified mail ward on me placed by Albus Dumbledore and am unsure if your mail will come through._

_Thanks for your consideration,_   
_C. Potter_

_-~-~_

_To: Professor McGonagall at Hogwarts_

_To Be Received By: Gryffindor Student Charles Potter_

_Dear Mr.Potter_

_I would love to share stories about your father with you. While I will be ill for the next week or so you can contact me at any time. I hope you are okay with sporadic replies, I have an illness that keeps me bedridden for days at a time._

_Sincerely, Remus John Lupin_

-~-~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> Well that was a bit of a short chapter but I haven't posted in a few days and I wanted to write. I tried to write more letters but they all felt fake so I just stopped after Remus' reply letter. 
> 
> Also I reread some of my previous chapters and I think I misspelled Moony. I spelt it Mooney but I think it's really Moony. I went back to read a story I posted in 2015 and it had so many spelling/grammar errors I laughed. I thought it was funny 'cause now I feel bad when I write aloud instead of allowed. 😆 At least I know I've improved even if it's not perfect.
> 
> I know Harry sounds adult-like even though he's 9. I have absolutely no idea how to sound like a 9yr old so...it's because he was abused and spent a lot of time in the library 👌.
> 
> If you're worried about Charles being too powerful--don't worry. He's not going to become a master occlumens right away. Now he's just mildly interested in the subject. Same with animagus--probably won't get their forms until they're 4th year at the least.
> 
> I've finally decided what most of the group's animagus forms will be but if you have any ideas for a specific character then please share in the comments! Things like that are only concrete after I write them down and post them.
> 
> If you were wondering, in the first reply letter, Harry&Evan mention Dora liking their messy hair. If you didn't get it, that's because they're trying to reassure Charles about their relationship--telling him he's NOT being replaced. They don't want to mention being too affectionate with Andromeda.


	9. Christmas & Dumbledore's Musings (A peak at Harrison Morgan)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three part chapter.
> 
> P1 Christmas at Tonks House
> 
> P2 Dumbledore being...Dumbledore
> 
> P3 Harrison Morgan (Unknowing MuggleBorn Wizard)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you clicked on this story because the tags said Dexter here it is. Just Dexter's son though and my notes at the end on my personal Dexter rewrite that is the cannon for this story. Dexter himself won't be a prominent character.
> 
> Also, yes Mutants from Marvel DO exist in this world we just won't be seeing any just yet. A future character I plan to introduce, Ezra Holmes, has superspeed/timebending sort of powers (basically the powers you see on Quicksilver in X-men:DoFP and X-men:Apocalypse). He won't go to Hogwarts until Evan/Ginny/Chamber of Secrets year though.
> 
> Check bottom of the chapter and end notes for more info.

Andromeda fluttered around the kitchen nervously. The mother of one had spontaneously become a mother of four just months ago and she wanted everything to be perfect for this year's Christmas. The presents were placed under the tree, Christmas stockings on the fireplace, and a small feast had just been laid out on the dinning room table. The kids had fun making their own stockings with art supplies a few days ago. 

  
"We each get one?"

"Yes dears."

"Okay. Usually we had to sneak down and fill Dudley and Daisy's stocking with sweets."

"We got to pretend to be Christmas elves--Dudley and Daisy could never tell it was us!"

Andromeda had to close her eyes and count to ten to calm herself down. To think those people had even tried to ruin _Christmas_ for those little boys. She didn't dare ask if they had ever received anything for Christmas, Andromeda didn't think she could bare the answer.

The Tonks family had their own Christmas traditions that they now included the young Potter brothers in. On Christmas Eve each member of the family would play a word game and pick one present to open before going to bed. Upon waking up Christmas morning they would empty their stocking and candy and sweets would be eaten for breakfast. They would then open gift from their friends before a light lunch. After lunch there would be more games until dinner which would be a large feast. Following the dinner feast would be opening presents from the family.

-~-~

While the Tonks Family was practicing their Yuletide traditions a certain Headmaster was scheming in his office at Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore could not believe the mess he was in. To think that Lily's sister would treat her own nephews like that, to abuse them to such a severe extent...it was unthinkable. He hadn't thought....

But, alas. It did not matter what he had _thought_. Only what he had _done_ , and what he had done was place three innocent children in a house where they had been abused. Had not checked up on them, believing one lady could keep an eye on them, not thinking that of course people who hurt children don't brag about it! And the wards that kept them locked inside-- for their own protection, so Death Eaters could not take them away, had backfired. Albus was beginning to wonder if he should just let the Potter boys stay with the Tonks indefinitely, they seemed to be able to adequately take care of them.

The Blood Wards however, were too powerful. You see when Albus had _set_ the wards he had made sure that no one could take the boys away _permanently_. They could leave with their family to go on vacation, and the wards were also modified to go with the family if they were to ever move. How could Albus manage to protect the boys if he broke the powerful warding on their house? Not to mention the muggles, who Albus now realized would reject and sneer at any form of magical help. The wards were of a sneaky, cunning nature; they would fog the memories of anyone who had seen one of the Potters in public that would try to use that information to find the boys, they did not allow people who knew where the Potters lived to tell anyone who did not know and anyone eavesdropping would not be able to hear. The wards did not allow any dark creatures or anyone with potent enough dark magic to enter and such people could not even _see_ the Potters near their house or when they were with their family. They were truly _marvelous_ wards...if only he knew how to transfer the wards to someone else (did Lily have any distant blood relatives?) or to another residence or person.

Well, it seemed as if Albus Dumbledore had some work to do. He would make up for everytime he looked at the monitoring charms set on Harry and dismissed it because James was a rambunctious child and like father, like son, right? He would make up for not putting even better monitoring charms on to begin with (the basic ones he had used only alerted him to serious injuries, not slow, ongoing abuse). And he would definitely make up for not checking up on the Dursley's _at least_ once. **(AN:** **Yes you read that right. He only put monitoring charms on Harry. I didn't suddenly forget he has brothers but Dumbledore certainly seemed to :| :) bye)**

Albus would have to smooth things over with Andromeda Tonks, he couldn't have the Boy-Who-Lived's Guardian hating him(he saw the look on the eldest brothers face when Minerva said _he_ was the one to leave them there. Definitely look into finding a way to change the wards so that Harry would spend the _least_ amount of time at his Aunt's house. Hmm, he should also _check_ the wards before he started messing with them. He should also do things that would make him look good in the Potter brothers' eyes. There was a certain Invisibility Cloak James had asked him to hold onto that should be passed down to his children. Perhaps he could also arrange a meeting between the boys and Remus Lupin? Albus was sure they would love to hear stories from their father's old friend.

[He was, of course, unaware Charles was arranging his _own_ meeting, thank you very much. He did not need the help of an old man who placed three extremely young children in a home where the adults did not like _their sort_.]

Albus had also decided that since Harry Potter already knew of magic--apparently _always_ knew of magic because one three year old had an astounding memory--then he could begin to cultivate proper friendships for the child. Charles had done very good choosing friends from light families, Albus had to ensure Harry followed in his footsteps. It would be best to contact the Wealsey's, they had a son in Harry's year and a daughter in Evan's--a perfect family to be friends with!

_Dear Arthur and Molly Weasley_

_I'm afraid I am about to disclose to you a very serious matter. You must both swear to keep this secret as it is very sensitive information. Do not worry for your children, for that is not what this is about._

_I'm certain your two sons, Misters Fred & George Weasley have informed you that they have befriended Charles Potter? Good. The information I am about to divulge is about him and his brothers, one of whom is Harry Potter._

_Up until very recently these three boys lived with their mother's sister. I explained to her that she was the one with the most right to care for them and the safest option (as I'm sure you both know, many Death Eaters got away by falsely claiming the_ _Imperius_ _Curse). Lily Potter had done some amazingly unique magic that would protect her children as long as they stayed with blood relatives so I assumed the children would be safe there. Petunia already knew about magic and she could explain to her nephews well enough what it is._

_I...am ashamed to say I was sorely mistaken. Harry Potter's relatives did not take very good care of him. Petunia did not tell her nephews about magic (though Charles was aware, having remembered from his parents). The boys were...mistreated in that house but that house offers the highest protection for them._

_I am asking if you both would open your door to the boys so to speak. Simply invite Charles (as your son's friend) to your house for Easter Holiday Week. I would like to help the boys learn what a healthy family is like and perhaps the younger brothers could make friends with your young Ronald and Ginny. Evan, the youngest Potter brother, is so traumatised and I feel it would do him some good to have a friend before Hogwarts._

_For Your Consideration, Albus Percival_ _Wulfric_ _Brian Dumbledore_

There, that seemed very straightforward. Albus knew Molly Weasley's bleeding heart and love for children would not allow her to deny such poor children a place in her home for a week. Albus had phrased the letter to shift the blame off of himself so the Wealsey's would give the Potters--especially Harry--a good view of him. It was rather useful at times to have such a well-done reputation. Of course he _did_ want the best for Harry. Voldemort was still out there after all, someone needed to defeat him.

-~-~

Thousands of miles/kilometers away from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry a young boy named Harrison Morgan was attempting to levitate his stuffed goat. He could have sworn he had done it yesterday! He had been fighting with Cody, his older brother, about who got the last sugar cookie and wanted his soft stuffed bear (King FluffyBuns) to comfort himself--and it came zooming straight at him! He could levitate objects, wasn't that cool?! He was probably one of those mutant they saw on the TV all the time! He could be a superhero! (Nevermind that last week he had wanted to be a doctor and a few months before that a police officer and before that a judge and before that a scientist and before that--well you get the picture.)

Harrison Morgan thought he had a pretty great life so far but being a mutant would be so awesome! If only he could get his stupid mutation to work.... After a half hour of practice Harrison stopped trying to levitate the stuffed goat because he got tired. Oh well, maybe being a mutant took time. Harrison was nine years old, he heard most people found out when they were teenagers--this just made him extra powerful then!

"Come on Sadie," the young golden blond haired boy turned to the dog sitting on his bed. "Let's go play outside, maybe I can convince Dad to let me take Caden out with me."

Sadie, the dog, a border collie with mostly black fur, a little brown around the eyes and white on her belly, was Harrison's dog. It had taken him months, maybe even years of begging before his father and step-mother, Lumen, allowed him to get a dog. Just last year his father had brought home a puppy with the condition that Harrison would feed and groom the dog he'd wanted so badly. As a result Sadie followed him around everywhere and rarely strayed from his side. She barked loudly if a stranger approached her child and his siblings while they were playing outside. While she was good with the rest of the family it was pretty clear Sadie was Harrison's dog. (The only thing he didn't do was walk her, because he was only nine and though she was well behaved Sadie was still stronger than him and on top of that they lived in a rough city, so Dad and Lumen would walk her and Harrison would sometimes join them.)

Harrison Morgan stayed home a lot. After a few months in kindergarten it was determined he was "too smart" for regular school so he had a special tutor that came by and worked with him at his own (extremely fast) rate. Sometimes Harrison was bothered by this because he didn't have many friends and the friends he did have were online. His four siblings: Astor, Cody, Caden and Liliana were either too old or too young for him to really play with. Astor was eleven years older than him (20) and she was in college already so he only saw her in the summer time. Cody was nine years older than him (18) and he would be going to college next year. Caden was five years younger than him (4) and though they couldn't _really_ tell, most of the family was certain he wasn't going to need a special tutor like Harrison. Lily was seven years younger than him (2)--practically a baby!

The large family of seven (well six now that Astor was gone) all lived in East Point, Georgia where they had moved a few years after Harrison's Mom died. He couldn't remember her too well, she died when he was really young, but Astor and Cody both made sure to tell him stories about his birth Mom, and Dad told him she was one of the greatest women he knew, so it wasn't so bad. Especially since Dad had married Lumen, she was the one he called 'Mom' now. Dad had married Lumen a year before Caden was born but she had been there for years before that. It was as if the marriage was just a formality, something to make Lumen and Dexter real to the rest of their family.

Trying to work out holidays was a big mess. Astor and Cody sometimes went down to Orlando, Florida to see their grandparents on their dad's side of the family. Occasionally their Grandma on Mom's side visited for birthdays (she had tried to stay once when Harrison had first started being tutored but for some reason kept trying to bring Astor and Cody down for "not reaching their full potential like their brother" and Dad had asked her to leave). Lumen's parents were happy to visit whenever their daughter wanted to and whenever Astor and Cody went to see their grandparents the rest of the family usually took a trip up to Minnesota to see them. Seeing their Aunt and Uncle was complicated because they were never allowed to mention Uncle Biney near Aunt Deb (Harrison wasn't sure why).

Uncle Brian lived in Georgia near them and had one daughter named Laura who stayed with them often for sleepovers. Laura was a year older than Caden and her Mom, who Harrison called Auntie Ava, did not live with Uncle Brian, always brought Harrison and his siblings fresh, home-baked cookies when she came over to drop Laura off. Harrison wasn't sure why Uncle Brian did not live with his daughter's mother like most families seemed to, maybe it was one of those "adult things" that even _really_ smart nine-year-olds did not understand.

** Author's Note **

**Yeah, so there's the newest chapter. I got so worked up about Christmas because I don't really celebrate unless I get invited to something. Then I realized I could just describe a bunch of traditions and branch off to another character so-~-~**

**Dumbledore was a bit strange. I realized I hadn't used his POV yet in this story so I took a stab at it. As you can all see he's VERY focused on how Harry views him. The other two Potter brothers are only important because they influence Harry. I tried to make it clear in his thoughts by having him mention the brothers but zero in on Harry because that's all he cares about.**

**I explained more about the monitoring charms Dumbledore has by making only serious injuries (like breaking a leg, getting a deadly illness, other things that could kill them) show up. Dumbledore here did not thing to monitor for other problems/signs of abuse and so the starvation, neglect, and occasional beating did not show up. He's guilty of negligence and treating people like pawn all the time instead of being straight but he does want good overall.** **He also implies to the** **Weasley's** **that he personally told Petunia what happened to Lily but we all know that's not how it went down. And he wants Molly to invite Charles as the twins friend so he doesn't know Dumbledore arranged it.**

**I've made most of my decisions on what the main groups** **animagus** **will be but I can always change my mind for most of them if you want to make a suggestion. Except for Charles and Harry's, theirs are set and I'm not changing it.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also though I'd show you a bit of the Dexter side of things. Harrison is going to be an important person as the story progresses so I wanted you to know a bit about him. I think I said in my summary or an author's note I have a completely different backstory for Dexter. Here are most of the differences:
> 
> S1: Brian lives and they don't find out his real name (but just in case the kids aren't allowed to mention Brian around Debra).
> 
> S2: Mostly the same except Dex invites his big bro to help him kill Jimenez. Doakes still dies the same way.
> 
> S3: There's not much difference here except Dex tells Miguel he has a long lost brother he recently got in contact with rather than "just the loud sister". Oh and the famous lines "I treated you like a brother." "I killed my brother, and I killed yours too." would have gone differently.
> 
> S4: Rita still dies but Dexter also meets a knew friend in between this season and the last: a serial killer who goes by the name The Artisan who kills child abusers and pedophiles--Dexter lets him live and he tracks down Brian to give him a tip on vigilantes and brotherhood. (Basically, Brian stop trying to change your brother. He likes his Code and you're only pushing him away trying to get him to kill innocent people.)
> 
> S5: Lumen comes back a few months after she leaves because she misses Dexter but she no longer need to kill. Occasionally, she'll help stalk or capture a victims though. Also, Cody and Astor come back to live with Dexter. 
> 
> S6: Debra doesn't find out. Brian returns and tries to convince Dexter to move up to Georgia with him (East Point is a city with high crime/murder rates according to Google). Dexter tells his brother he'll think about it. And Deb isn't in love with her brother, eww.
> 
> S7: Not at all similar. Dexter kills Hannah straight away--he has Lumen, thank you very much. And Dexter is able to kill LaGuerta without Debra's interference and regret. Dexter decides to go live near Brian after he gets his affairs in order.
> 
> S8: Dr. Vogel starts off the same and Dex easily kills Oliver Saxon/Daniel and goes to live with his brother. He does not loose his urge to kill like in the show.
> 
> Shortly after he moves to Georgia he meets a woman names Ava Wisteria who is searching for her sisters killer and helps her find them. It turns out she's a sociopath like Dexter and Brian are. Similarly to Brian she only cares about her little sister. She's not a killer until her sister (only person in the world she cares what happens to) is murdered and she and Dexter kill the man that did it. Her and Brian hit it off and decide to start a "relationship" which is based entirely off wanting too seem normal to the public and sex. Brian gets her pregnant one time (she had been incorrectly told by a doctor she was sterile) and this results in Laura. So her and Brian co-parent the kid. She knows Brian is a serial killer but, as previously mentioned, she only cares about herself, her now dead little sister and her new daughter. She doesn't care what Brian does in his free time.
> 
> I was looking for something on guard-like dogs that were good with children and this is what came up on collies.
> 
> {7. The Collie
> 
> Made famous by the movie "Lassie", the collie is one of the most loved dogs in the U.S. as well as globally. It is a graceful dog that doubles as an affectionate pet and a devoted guard. If all you need is a watchdog that would bark whenever it senses danger, the collie is your ideal choice; it barks loudly. Collies are very intelligent and therefore easy to train. They are also used as police dogs, and as search and rescue animals. Their coat, though seemingly luxurious, doesn't require frequent brushing. (Brushing once a week would suffice).}
> 
> It may be number 7 but I also wanted one that was easy to take care of and train and good with little kids. I feel like if Dexter was ever going to get his kid a dog it would be one that can semi-protect them (aka loud barking when danger is near). And the part where Harrison mentions he feeds her, not only does looking after an animal teach a kid responsibility but dogs are more likely to protect the person that feeds them--it's how they survive after all.


	10. Easter Holiday & Birthday Parties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Molly tries to comply with Dumbledore's wishes.
> 
> Dumbledore apologised to Charles.
> 
> Remus meets the boys.
> 
> Oh, and the Morgan family has won a trip to Europe. Wonder what could happen there. *nudge, nudge, wink, wink*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't as happy as the title makes it sound. Some heavy stuff. You have been warned.
> 
> "Autumn term starts at the first of September with the arrival of the students, and continues to the start of the Christmas holidays, usually in late December. Winter term extends from the end of the Christmas holidays to the beginning of the Easter break, usually in mid to late March or early April."-Wikibooks, Muggles Guide to Harry Potter/Places/Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
> 
> Just wanted to share that with you guys. Also, a reminder, Charles is born in April (also on the 7th I've decided) and Evan in May (on the 1st). So Easter break could be before Charles' birthday or during. Nymphadora Tonks' birthday is unclear, just that she is in the same year as Charlie Weasley, who has already left by the time Harry attends Hogwarts as a 1st year. On with the story. The Weasley Twins were born on April 1st.

Molly Weasley waved her wand to get the table set for dinner. Tonight they had invited over the Tonks Family to visit as it was Fred and George's birthday. Charles Potter had been invited to stay with them for the whole week but had declined to spend the break with his brothers (Harry did not want to come because Fred and George had told Charles their sister was "one of his biggest fans"). The Weasley matriarch wondered why Dumbledore wanted so badly for the Potter brothers to see them as family, they seemed to be just fine with the Tonks' in Molly's opinion.

Fred and George were unaware Molly had invited the Tonks' to the Burrow for their birthday dinner but if they asked Molly could just tell them she had invited them all so Charlie could spend time with Nymphadora. Arthur had enlarged the table for the day to fit both families, what formerly had ten spaces for the family plus one now had sixteen spaces. Arthur had also transfigured a few pieces of wood into chairs for the Tonks' and Potter's to use...they were...okay to sit on but not very pretty. Bill had arrived early and brought some food with him to try from Egypt. Everything was looking perfect for her little boys' birthdays.

The table was set with Arthur at the head, where he usually sat with Molly on his right and Bill on his left, across from Molly. Next to Molly was Charlie who sat across from Nymphadora (Molly was hoping Charlie would marry that girl). Next to Charlie was Percy and across from Percy, Ron, sitting in between Nymphadora and Harry (Molly was trying to follow Dumbledore's orders to try and make them friends). Next to Harry was his older brother Charles and the two birthday boys were across from them. Evan sat next to Harry and across from Ginny. The Tonks parents sat at the very end of the table, Andromeda next to Ginny and Ted next to Evan. **(I'm trying to include a seating chart above this** **description** **but I'm not sure if it will load on all the sites I'm posting this on now. Sorry if the seating is confusing.)**

**Could not post screenshot on Ao3. Here is my typing this in a more visibly pleasing way.**

**Arthur (Head Seat)**

**Molly. Bill**

**Charlie W. Nym. T.**

**Percy. Ron**

**Fred. Harry**

**George. Charles**

**Ginny. Evan**

**Andromeda. Ted**

**(Empty Seat At The End Of The Table)**

They sang the wizarding version of the birthday song that Arthur had made up after hearing it at a muggle shop where a family was celebrating. He didn't understand all the muggle meaning so he just added wizard one. The Weasley family had been singing this song since Charlie was born. The version Arthur had heard had something to do with monkeys in a zoo which the wizards did not understand so they sang about dragons on a dragon reservation instead. Come to think of it...that might be why Charlie was so obsessed with dragons.

-~-~

Harry stared nervously around the room. The last time he had been in a room full of such a mix of adults and children had been at Aunt Petunia's last party. She had invited all the adults to bring their children so Dudley and Daisy could make some friends. Harry and his brothers had of course not been allowed to mingle amongst their peers. Instead, Aunt Petunia had bought three cheep Halloween costumes that looked similar to a butler's uniform and the brothers had served the guest at the party. Harry had made the mistake of asking why Aunt Petunia wouldn't buy them real clothes of she had the money, his cheek had stung for the whole party but really, Harry was lucky Uncle Vernon had not been home when he'd asked that.

Evan sat beside his older brother and they tried to look relaxed, they didn't seem to be successful as Charles kept sending them concerned looked as he interrogated/talked to Bill Weasley about his job. The two had a hard enough time trying to get Charles to have fun with his friends and leave them alone, if he thought they were as uncomfortable as they actually were he'd make them go home...and leave with them so he could look after them.

"Hey, you guys wanna play wizards chess?" Harry looked up at the lanky, red-haired boy that had spoken. He had seemed the approach, thanks to instincts instilled in him by the Dursley's but he didn't actually expect youngest Weasley boy to speak to them.

"I suppose we might. Do you have a good set?"

The boy squirmed uncomfortably. "Well...it's pretty old and some of the pieces are scratched and one's even chipped a bit--"

"I meant do the pieces listen to you? Dora has this old set she uses and it always criticizes what I try to do. Makes for a rather dreadful game."

The lanky boy looked relieved and the youngest Potter brothers were invited into a game. Harry and Evan took turns playing against Ron--they were happy the pieces did not fight them, they were used to being played by the whole Weasley family so the pieces were aware of different play styles.

"Hey mate," said Ron as his pieces mercilessly smashed Harry's. "Just curious but why do you two and your brother live with Tonks? Is that where Dumbledore sent you? Seems a bit odd."

"We're only going to live with them while Charles is in school. That's not where we live all the time," Harry said glumly.

"Why?" Ron asked.

"You wouldn't understand," Evan whispered sadly.

Ron let it go and the rest of the time spent at Fred & George's birthday party was spent laughing. Charles got the gist of Bill's work for Gringotts and traipsing through Egyptian tomes and Mr. Weasley's job working for the Ministry. Harry and Evan exchanged an amused look, their older brother was going to have every single job possible to have in the Wizarding World categorized by the time he graduated Hogwarts.

-~-~

Charles own birthday party was a bit more quiet. This year Easter Break was from March 25th to April 3rd so Charles was at Hogwarts when his birthday fell on the calendar. Charles didn't feel as if it was a big deal to celebrate his birth but Andromeda was determined to see the Potters made up for all the missed childhood memories.

When the first year Gryffindors left their Thursday DADA class Charles said goodbye to his friends and went to the Headmasters office, the only place you could Floo out of the school. Dumbledore was alone in the office when Charles arrived. Finding this slightly odd because Andromeda had been there early last time he'd left school to see his brothers Charles greeted the old headmaster.

"Ah, good afternoon to you as well, young Charles. Lemon drop?" Dumbledore offered.

"No, but thank you, Professor. I'm sure Andromeda has made me a giant cake and I don't always have much room in my stomach--the people I used to live with didn't feed me often you see." Charles resisted the urge to grin as the aged headmaster frowned. It was a bit of a low blow but the eldest Potter brother couldn't care less. Albus Dumbledore was responsible for Charles, Harry and Evan being left at the Dursley's house--let him feel guilty about it.

"I understand, I was wondering if you could talk with me for a while until Mrs. Tonks gets here to pick you up. I would like to ask you some questions."

Charles kept his face blank while inwardly he frowned. Now that he'd thought of it, where _was_ Andy? She'd made it clear her opinion on Albus Dumbledore and the responsibilities of those in charge of looking after children quite a few times. There was no way Andromeda would leave Charles alone with this man for more than a few seconds.

"What do you want to talk about Sir?"

"I would like to apologize."

Charles paused. That...wasn't what he was expecting. "Sir...?"

"I cannot express to you, or to your brothers, how sorry I am about how you were raised. I wanted you to be safe from all Voldemort's former followers and was not thinking of how your Aunt and Uncle would react to suddenly getting three children, three _magical_ children. Can you find it in your heart to forgive an old man his mistake?" Dumbledore asked, sorrowful blue eyed peering at Charles from underneath half-moon spectacles.

Charles thought deeply for a few minutes. He'd already deduced (Charles had started using that word after hearing Rosie say it one to many times) that the Professor had gotten the timing confused on purpose so that he would have time to talk to Charles without Andromeda's supervision. He could tell the old man where to shove it and that one apology _did not_ make up for years of abuse.... Or he could let the Headmaster think he'd won and "forgive" him while secretly never believing a word that came out of his mouth. Charles settled on a middle ground, "I accept your apology Headmaster Dumbledore but I will never forget. I hope we can now get past this and have an amicable Headmaster-Student relationship from now on. If I could make one request to smooth over this new relationship?"

Clearly willing to do quite a lot to regain Charles' trust the Professor said "Go on, my boy. I'm sure I can fulfill any request you may have."

"You said the wards around the house protect us from Death Eaters who may try and avenge their former master, correct?" The Headmaster nodded. "Well I was thinking about how unfair the underage sorcery laws are to muggle-borns and people who live with muggles like myself and my brothers." Charles paused to present an air of hesitance, as if what he was about to say was troubling him. "I was just hoping that...maybe with all your positions in the Ministry or something...you could change that so...well as I understand it, many pure-bloods give their children extra tutoring during the summer and it's not fair."

Charles paused again and allowed the emotion of sadness and a hint of fear to overtake his face. "And I'm also worried that...maybe I could protect my brothers better if I could self-study over the summer." Then he dug the knife in deep. "I trust that the wards must be strong because I'm sure you wouldn't risk three kids being hurt for nothing, Sir, but I want to train a little by myself. Or maybe have someone teach me a bit, but I can't do that if I can't study magic while other students can." Charles' expression changed from worried to earnest, he knew the best way to lie was to use little truths sprinkled in between.

Someone known as a greedy, self-centered person could not claim altruism without serious, long-term changes to behavior patterns. Just so, Charles let the protective, big brother side, and the eager to learn, student side shown in spades, with a hint of 'it's not fair that pure-bloods get____while muggle-borns don't' to present his desired result to get what he wanted from Dumbledore. It was clear the Headmaster was worried about the Potter brothers slipping out of his grasp for some reason and that the old man wanted reassurance that the boys weren't completely messed up after all the child abuse. All Charles had to do to get what he wanted was to let Dumbledore believe he was on his side and that the anger he's displayed when McGonagall first brought him here was out of brotherly concern and that Charles believed in "good" things like fair-play and the like.

Indeed, according to plan the Headmaster's expression softened and relaxed. "My boy." Charles tried not to let the possession pronoun bother him much--even though it did. "I will do my absolute best to get you what you have asked. At the very least, know I will allow you and your brothers to visit the Tonks' and other wizarding families like the Weasley's over the summer and you can certainly practice magic there. I'm very proud you have considered others less fortunate than yourself, I see that as a trait not many seem to possess."

Though Charles was kind of annoyed at the old bumblebee's presumption that _he_ could decide who Charles and his brothers could visit during their summer, the eldest Potter decided to count this as a win and just to sweeten the pot-- "Thank you, Professor. I understand the government can be tough sometimes and even if you can't get the law changed I trust you'll let me and my brothers practice at least a bit to defend ourselves." Telling someone they 'understood if something couldn't be done' and also adding that they 'trusted' them to do _____, usually made people try harder to do what you asked them to do. People liked to be counted on or needed to do certain things, whatever those things may be.

-~-~

Remus Lupin nervously grabbed onto the Port-key he'd been mailed to attend Charles Potter's birthday party. Very luckily it didn't fall anywhere near the full moon and so Remus was safe to attend. He was a bit curious as to why the Potter brothers lived with the Tonks family and also why Charles wouldn't be at Hogwarts today but it didn't matter in the end. It had been so long since he had seen his best mate's sons and the circumstances were not important.

Entering the room he could see the party was a small affair. Only five people were there and at first Remus was confused because he thought the Tonks' had a daughter but soon realized she must be at Hogwarts. Again the question popped up, why was Charles allowed to leave school to have a birthday party when no one else was? An excited squeal of "Moony!" broke him out of his thoughts. Remus looked down to see an eight-year old, auburn-haired, green-eyed boy clinging onto him. The werewolf's heart ached, the boy looked so much like Lily.

Then the boy suddenly froze and detached himself from Remus as if burned. "Sorry, I just, me and Harry, we've been reading some of Dad's old schoolbooks and journals and we-I feel like I know you already." The boy was shaking and looked, to be honest, like he was on the verge of having some sort of panic attack.

"Evan!" A boy who was clearly Harry wrapped his arms around his younger brother. He whispered things so quiet only Remus' wolf ears picked it up. "It's okay Ev. We're not with them anymore. Remus has been nice over letters--he's not going to hit you."

The werewolf felt a prickle of white hot rage in his gut, behind his ears, all over his whole body. Who were 'they' and why did they think it was acceptable to hit an eight-year old child? Why did Evan think Remus would hit him for simply being a bit to forward with hugs?! No one should hit a child for any reason and certainly not for hugging them! Before he could question the situation the werewolf was called into the dinning room for cake and he allowed the birthday party to distract him from his rage.

Remus hadn't been able to get Charles much for his birthday. He'd scrounged up enough to make permanent copies of all his pictures of James and Lily, feeling very chafed at having to include the traitor Black because he was in so many pictures.

Charles eyes teared up, "Thank you...we don't...we found some things in the family vaults but...we don't have any pictures of Mum and Dad."

Remus nodded and had to quell his rage again. No pictures of their parents? If that was the only sign he may have assumed it was a fluke, that the people who raised the Marauders' pups just didn't have any pictures to share. It wasn't the only sign. Remus took notice of how careful Ted and Andromeda were around Evan. The one time Ted moved in the general direction of Harry and the boy flinched. Harry whispered to Evan that they never would have gotten a party at "the Dursley's." (This was good now Remus had a _name_.) If all that wasn't damning enough...he saw a hint of very rough scar tissue when Charles was encouraged to remove his school robes (not his whole back-- just a small bit of skin, it appeared Charles had worn his casual clothes _under_ his school clothes).

The boys seemed fairly interested in hearing about all the pranks the Marauders had pulled in school. Remus entertained them with the Marauders best hits while thinking of all the questions he wanted to ask the Tonks' when the small party was over.

Charles had to floo back to Hogwarts after his party was over and Remus nearly cried when the closed off boy gave him a hug before he walked into the fireplace. Evan yawned and he and Harry were both ushered off to bed by Andromeda. Now was the time to strike.

"What. Happened." Remus demanded.

"Pardon?"

"Don't. Don't try to deflect. Evan thought I was going to hit him for hugging me. Harry flinches when someone moves too fast. Charles has scars on his back. They've never seen pictures of their parents. You're both so careful around Evan, like he's going to break. What. Is. Wrong. With. My. Cubs."

Remus was so enraged he didn't even realized he had called the boys his "cubs."

Ted and Andromeda exchanged looks before Ted sighed. "It's not a pretty story Remus...."

"All my friends are dead. Those boys are all I have left of them. I don't care what kind of story it is. Can any story involving children being hurt be pretty?!"

They didn't know he was a werewolf and it wasn't even close to the full moon but Remus could see that something about the way his voice rose with every word startled them both. "Alright then, it all started when _-Albus Dumbledore-_ left those boys with Lily Potter's sister...."

-~-~

Albus Dumbledore adjusted his beard as he prepared to retire for the night. The wizened Headmaster had finished all his mail for the week, unless someone had the poor grace to bother him the last two days of this week. Fawkes gave him a look as he waved the Elder Wand to pack all the rest of his parchment into the organized mess he favored.

"What is it my friend? Are one of the students in danger?"

As if on que the fireplace in his office lit up and a head appeared in it. Why it was Remus! Albus had been trying to contact him for months now, trying to lure him in with the bribe of spending time with Charles Potter for him. Remus was ever so grateful for Albus accepting a poor, werewolf student into Hogwarts and his high opinion of Dumbledore would be a good influence on the Potters.

"Hello, Headmaster. May I come through the fireplace, please?" Albus failed to notice the steel in the werewolf's voice as he accepted.

-~-~

Far, far away, in the good ol' USA the family of nine year old Harrison Morgan had just won a family trip around many European countries. They could even bring Sadie because she was Harrison's trained service dog for his social anxiety. Harrison had no idea a small "mutant" aka magic accident would cause him to get invited to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> Whew! I started writing this only to have the same problem I had with Christmas. My family isn't the "party" type. So now you get to see Dumbledore's plans crumble at his feet. Isn't that more fun anyways?
> 
> Forgot to mention in the last chapter that Sadie is a service dog. And she will be accompanying Harrison to Hogwarts because of this.
> 
> This part of the story will probably be wrapped up soon and I might make a short summary of Charles' second year before I begin the main plot.
> 
> Should Sirius escape earlier? Because I know the Twins didn't notice Peter on the Map but Charles definitely will. Check out Seamus Gorman's theory on why Fred & George didn't notice a dead man sleeping in their brothers bed with them. On Seamus Gorman's YouTube channel. (Maybe Charles will be able to see Wormtail because he's Prongs' son and he knows it? You'll understand that it you watch the video.)
> 
> I feel like Sirius escaping or being released earlier would mess with the plot but I might be able to swing it.
> 
> Dumbledore's lost Remus. I skipped the part in every fic where character yells at Dumbles for being an idiot in where he places children. And doesn't check up on them. But at least you got some Charles manipulating Dumby, right?


	11. Last Day At Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter is pretty short but I wanted to get it out to you guys. I will be writing a sequel and I hope to take this story to at least fourth year (try to guess Charles' reaction to one of his baby brothers being put in the Triwizard Tournament) but I really want to get it all the way to the end of HP and write a small epilogue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't currently have a job and I'm not in school but once I do find a college or job I might not write as often. I do still plan to finish this story though so no worries!

The Justice Raiders met for the last day of school in an alcove Fred and George had found for them to meet up in to plan pranks. The marvelous prank they had planned for the end of the year had already been set and there was nothing else to do except wait. The Slytherins had won the House Cup for the fifth time in a row, much to the disappointment of the rest of the school. The Slytherin students may be going home victorious but they would also be going home with green skin, silver hair, and an insatiable urge to hiss like a snake at the begining and end of each sentence they spoke.

"So you guys got any plans for the summer?" Angelina asked, practically vibrating in her seat.

"Our brother Charlie's going to be visiting a dragon reserve he plans to work at--" "--the whole family's invited to come along--" "--Mum threw a fit--" "--she's not too fussed about her ' _baby boy_ ' moving all the way to Romania--" "--to work with _dangerous_ dragons!"

"My Mum has to fly for the Harpies this summer to see if they can make it to the Quidditch World for this summer. There's quite a few games to be played, especially if she wins. The Harpies are the only completely female sports team so they're very accommodating when it comes to bringing your family along."

"Aw Angie, I'm so jealous! I wish I could follow a whole Quidditch team around." Lee groaned. "My family can't afford to go to any of the games this summer--Dad usually gets tickets because he works for the Sport Department but he's been penalized for some reason. He wouldn't share in his letters why or what for. I guess I should be glad me and my sister got to have a Christmas this year."

"Don't worry Lee--" "--maybe we can convince Dad to let you come along with us."

"I'm sure Bill won't even want his ticket--" "--too busy doing stuff for the goblins!" Said the twins in an attempt to cheer him up.

"What about you Rosie? And Charles?" Angie's eyes settled on Charles expectantly. The girls had noticed how nervous he was about going home. They must have pieced together that leaving Hogwarts when they weren't on break wasn't normal. Charles had left three times this year, in October to visit his parents graves on the anniversary of their deaths, in April to spend his birthday with his brothers (despite the fact that most families would just pretend it occurred on the break of that month), and to spend time with Evan on his birthday in May. Even though he'd only left for a few hours or days those three times it was not usual for that to happen at Hogwarts.

Charles waited for someone else to speak, for someone--Rosie perhaps--to start talking about their summer plans. Or maybe he should lie, just say his family was poor and had no exciting plans. But Rosie would see through it, Charles had seen her make deductions about other students lives based on what they wore, how they walked and how they spoke to other students. Rosie knew by the fresh, tailored cut of his robes and even the newness of his casual clothes that he was not poor. And really, Charles didn't want to lie to the first friends he'd ever had anyways.

"I don't wanna talk about it," the dark-haired boy finally settled on saying. He could see his friends reluctance to let it go, to just _please let it go_ but it was now time for the Leaving Feast and none of them wanted to miss their big prank go off.

It was just as glorious as they all imagined it to be. There were gasp of horror from the Slytherins and Charles was sure he saw tears of laughter coming out of some people's eyes. As soon as Slytherin House sat down their skin turned green and stuck to their seats. When they drank from their goblets they would start hissing when they spoke. Another spell would cause their hair to turn silver when the sticking spell allowed them to stand up.

"Who did this?! Which student did this? I will have you expell--" just as Snape was speaking the Justice Raiders banner fell down on the opposite side of the hall.

"Now, now Severus. You've heard the rumors, this group of students is probably leaving this year. You can't exactly expell graduating students," Dumbledore chuckled.

"Don't you see it's clearly that--"

"Severus. I've heard your claims and will hear no more of it. We will speak of this no more."

Charles and the other Raiders shared looks, he hoped they understood what this meant. He's told them the sort of grudge Snape had on his father and they knew it carried over to Charles because of how cruel Snape had been in their first few weeks of class before they tested out. Snape was likely insinuating that it was him doing this because his father was a prankster too. He was right of course but the group didn't like that he was making accusations based on nothing.

To Charles' dismay, once they were on the train back home the girls started questioning him again. He deflected, "Rosie hasn't told us how her summer is going to be have you Rosie?"

"I'm going to visit my grandparents--they'll want to hear all about Hogwarts I expect--and some cousins of mine. Now why are you so nervous to go home?"

But dear Rosie had already given him an out, "I thought you were only allowed to tell the family you live with about Hogwarts? You're MuggleBorn, you can't tell anyone else!" There, now hopefully the others would pester her!

Rosie Watson-Holmes seemed to have an answer for everything. "My Uncle is very high up in the government," Rosie said dismissively. "If he wants me to be able to tell his parents where I go to school and what for, he can find a permit for it."

"There is no permit for--" Fred started to say, before being silenced by Rosie's look.

A look could speak a thousand words and this look clearly said, "Just because you don't know there's a permit for something, doesn't mean one doesn't exist."

"Anyways, back to Charles." Said Rosie, looking expectantly at him.

"Look you don't--you guys wouldn't--I don't wanna talk about it okay!" Charles exploded. "You don't know what it's like to live with people who despise you! People who don't care about you! I could die tomorrow and they'd celebrate and I can't leave--SO LEAVE ME ALONE ABOUT IT!!!" Angelina opened her mouth to speak , maybe to apologize but Charles couldn't be encouraged to care. He grabbed his trunk and the owl cage (Hedwig had already flown home with the last letter he sent.) and stalked out of the compartment. He stayed away for the whole ride back and only returned to say a short "goodbye" which he didn't listen to their replies to.

He spotted Andromeda waiting on the train's platform with Harry and Evan as soon as he left. "Nymphadora has already left--she apparated home." Charles wondered if Andromeda knew just how much Dora hated being called that but he didn't mention it as they got in Ted's car. "Ted wanted to say goodbye but he couldn't get off work today. I do hope you all know I'll be checking on you frequently."

"Thanks Andy," Charles tried to smile but it came out looking more like a grimace.

"Andy says she's not gonna let them hurt us no more, C!" Evan, the tone of his voice was probably supposed to sound excited but even though Andy was going to visit she could protect them from _everything_ and Evan was smart enough to realize that.

"Yeah, I'm sure everything will be fine," Charles managed a real smile this time and was rewarded by seeing his brothers face light up. Perhaps, with Andromeda watching over them, their summer wouldn't be that bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note
> 
> Snape has not used legilimency on Charles or the group because they tested out of his class. Just wanted to clear that up. In case you forgot, they also tested out of History of Magic as well. This means they study on their own but take test ever so often with their Head of House. If they fail a number of test or an exam they go back to regular class.
> 
> Sorry this chapter wasn't very long. I didn't have much inspiration these past few weeks. At least not for this story. I recently got into DID YouTube channels and plan to write a Harry Potter story where Harry has DID. Not yet though, I gotta get the storyline planned out. DID means Dissociative Identity Disorder, if you didn't know, that's the real name for Multiple Personality Disorder. And then I thought of a Twilight AU where Bella has DID.
> 
> I think I'm gonna skip Charles' second year and go ahead on to Harry's first year. I think it would be fun to do Evan's POV (mostly) for his first/Harry's second year because he'll be in Ginny's year and already know her. That might be fun to do, and you guys would know a lot more about his personality.

**Author's Note:**

> (I also thought Petunia would take it as a challenge that her *younger* sister had a child before her and then had two after that so the Dursley's also have a daughter Evan's age. They were unable to have anymore due to suddenly being saddled with three more kids. The Dursley's naturally blame the Potters for this and the abuse is more severe than in the books.)


End file.
